


Gotta Get Out (Wake Up)

by choose_your_emotions



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Australia, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - High School, Geographical Inaccuracies, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, LGBTQ Character, Multi, Out of Character, Swearing, Teen Romance, mentions of trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28236693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/choose_your_emotions/pseuds/choose_your_emotions
Summary: The guys of 5SOS are about to do their very first gig at the Annandale Hotel, and they're on top of the world. But something goes wrong before they can play, and only one member of 5SOS is left standing.25 years later, Sierra Deaton finds their demo in her late mother's studio.ora "5SOS as Julie and the Phantoms" AU that my tiktok endorsed
Relationships: Ashton Irwin/Original Character(s), Michael Clifford & Luke Hemmings & Ashton Irwin, Michael Clifford & Luke Hemmings & Calum Hood & Ashton Irwin, Sierra Deaton & Crystal Leigh, Sierra Deaton/Luke Hemmings, Sierra Deaton/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 12





	1. Episode One - Unpredictable / End Up Here

**Author's Note:**

> This was completely inspired by my tiktok (@choose.your.emotions) that "blew up" (kinda). I posted some character videos, so if you want to watch those, do that now! (know that there are some character spoilers in them, so if you'd rather be a complete blank-slate, feel free to watch them later!)
> 
> And, yes, this is a repost. I did a bit of editing, and I finally reignited my inspiration behind this fic! I hope y'all enjoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “She sits at home with the lights out / seeing life in different colors / i think it’s time that we wake up / so let me take you away.” - “Unpredictable”  
> “I'm pretty sure that we're halfway there / and when I wake up next to you I wonder how / how did we end up here?”  
> \- "End Up Here"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made an [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4y7P9jnvqGwuB3hewIKevM?si=O4SXOb8DTjyj1UphBBYCJA) on spotify of the "soundtrack" of the fic. It will update with every chapter I post.
> 
> If you'd rather, I could make a "soundtrack" list as a chapter- the playlist was just my first idea, haha!

THE ANNANDALE HOTEL, SYDNEY

1995

The music of the opening band shakes the room as Vu begins uselessly cleaning the eternally-sticky bartop. She observes them idly as they work out the kinks in their performance, the four boys hurling insults at each other and laughing as they fuck up. The boy standing center stage with the firetruck-red hair seemed to have a love-argue relationship with the blonde bassist, much to the dark-haired guitarist’s amusement and the drummer’s chagrin.

Vu chuckles. The boys can’t be much older than 17. They seem more child-like than that, but Vu supposed that was because she was mature for being 19, rather than the boys being immature.

“No, Calum, it’s like-” The red-haired boy complains loudly, flicking his fringe out of his face and looking at the other guitarist, pointedly demonstrating a riff on the guitar. Vu stands corrected. Maybe they are just childish.

The dark-haired boy, Calum, huffs, pouting childishly and crossing his arms awkwardly over the body of his guitar. “If you’re gonna complain about my guitar-playing, why did you have Luke be the bassist, huh, Mikey?” He asks, gesturing to the blonde on the other side of the stage. The bassist, named Luke apparently, is strangely quiet, considering he was loudly arguing with the red-headed guitarist moments earlier.

The red-haired boy shrugs flippantly. “Luke won’t sing. Bass players don’t sing. You do. Boom, Luke is bassist.”

The drummer pinches the bridge of his nose. “Guys-” He attempts to interrupt the boys’ argument, but it doesn’t work.

The blonde guitarist pouts. “I can sing.”

Mikey turns to Luke. “Are you going to?”

“No,” Luke squeaks out after a few moments of silence. Mikey scowls.

Seeing this moment of silence as an opportunity, Vu steps towards the boys, tucking her cleaning rag into the apron tied around her waist. “You’re sounding great, boys!”

Nearly on-cue, Mikey and Luke flush a tomato red, and Calum flushes as red as his tan skin will allow. The drummer is calm behind the kit, save for a wide, bright grin. “Thanks, ma’am!” He says, seeing his bandmates incapacitated by the compliment.

Mikey coughs. “Yeah, what Ash said.”

Ash ruffles his curly hair with one hand, pushing up his glasses with a drumstick in the other. “Sorry about them,” He continues with a sheepish grin. “They don’t know when to stop yelling.”

Vu laughs. Mikey shouts unintelligibly. “They’re not the first,” Vu says. “I meant what I said earlier, though. I’ve seen plenty of bands come and go, even been in a few myself. You guys are really good.”

Mikey seems to preen at her compliments now, standing a little straighter. Luke appears to be attempting to bury his chin into his collarbones, smiling despite his shy stature. “Want our CD?” Calum squeaks out. “We- um.” His voice breaks slightly, and he clears his throat. “We have a demo?” His voice ticks up nervously.

Vu smiles, hopefully in a calming way. “That’d be great.” Calum grins, his eyes scrunching up at the corners in happiness. As he shuffles through the bag they have set up by an amp, Mikey stretches out a hand.

“I’m Michael,” he says. Vu shakes his hand, smiling fondly at this group of teenage boys trying desperately to be professional. He jabs a thumb at Luke. “The idiot on the bass is Luke-” Luke squawks, but Michael barrels over him- “Calum’s the other guitarist-” Calum hands her a CD case with “5 SECONDS OF SUMMER” scribbled on a piece of paper in the front, along with a t-shirt that will no doubt be too big on her. Michael gestures vaguely behind him. “-and Ashton’s on the kit.” Ashton waves cordially with a drumstick.

“I’m Vu,” she replies. “Nice to meet you, boys.”

The stage manager pokes her head out the entrance to the stage. “Sound-check over, boys. Half-hour to call.” She talks curtly, leaving almost before she finishes talking.

Michael huffs. “We were _not_ done.”

“Yes, we were, Mikey,” Ashton scolds gently as he stands from the kit, making his way to the front edge of the stage. He’s clearly the de-facto leader of the group. Vu suspects he’s the oldest, with how much he sounds like a parent. “Calum sounded fine, and you know it.” Vu smiles at them once more as they hop down off the stage edge, still chatting as she goes back to wiping down tables.

“We could be perfect, though, Ash!” Michael whines. Ashton smacks Michael in the back of the head.

Clearly, these boys are close. Vu smiles as the four of them walk outside as they attempt to yell over each other, most likely going to eat. She can’t wait for their show tonight.

* * *

Vu doesn’t realize that something’s wrong until Calum comes back at 15-minute call, and the other boys don’t.

“They went to the burger place without me,” Calum said with a helpless shrug and panicked eyes. “My mom’s been forcing me to go vegetarian.”

She doesn’t realize it’s that serious until the other boys never show up, and a siren roars past the Annandale. As the siren passes, Vu thinks nothing of it until two adults walk in, heading straight for Calum. Calum and Vu both stand up. The woman looks startlingly like Calum, and her eyes are stony.

“Mom?” Calum asked shakily.

“Calum,” The man said, presumably his father. “We need to go.”

“But- but the show,” Calum complained weakly.

“There’ll be other shows, rockstar,” Vu said, ruffling his heat-damaged fringe.

Calum smiles tightly at her, looking defeated. He and his parents walk out as the bar starts back up, the speakers pumping out whatever radio station the manager of the shift put it to.

Vu learns three weeks later through the local news channel that the rest of Calum’s band was carried in the ambulance that passed and died in Sydney Medical Centre.

* * *

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

2020

The halls of Lane Cove high school were filled with kids, nearly pushing each other in their haste to get to their next class. Sierra wraps her sweatshirt around her tighter as she stands in front of her locker, dreading the next class.

It’s midterm presentations, where each student in Mr. Tomlinson’s class presents a piece of music they’ve worked on. The problem is, Sierra hasn’t worked on anything and hasn’t been since… You-Know-What. She puts her binder back into her locker, exchanging it for her music folder, where The Song lays, mocking her with how easy it is despite it being impossible for her to play without-

She’s interrupted from her thoughts by her best friend Crystal, who flops dramatically onto the locker next to hers. “Sierra! Presentations today!”

Sierra groaned. “Don’t remind me, Crystal.”

Crystal looks about an inch from having a tantrum in the hallway. “Sierra, Mr. Tomlinson said this was your last chance to stay in the music program! 

Sierra sighed. “I know, Crystal. Music’s been hard, you know that.”

Crystal rubs her shoulder sympathetically. “I know, Si.” She then grins wickedly. “-But this your chance to melt Joy’s face off with your talent! Prove to Ed that it is _you_ who should be the Queen of Music at this school!” 

Sierra laughs at her friend’s over-dramatic description and shuts her locker. “I don’t know, Crystal-”

As if summoned a second too late, Joy Hood prances down the hallway, handing out flyers to anyone who will listen. And considering who her dad is, it’s a lot. “Dirty Candy, performing at the pep rally!” She says, smiling. “Be there!” She giggles, and it’s so obviously fake that her boyfriend cringes beside her.

“Oh, hi Sierra,” Joy says once they approached. “Can’t wait to see your presentation in Mr. Tomlinson’s class! Are you gonna choke up like last week or-?”

“Joy,” Her boyfriend says gently from beside her. “You should probably go hand out more flyers before class.”

Joy huffs. “Whatever, Eddie,” Joy says, flipping her hair over her shoulder and strutting off. 

Eddie Dawkins, the football star of the school, cringes in apology. “Sorry about her. I’m excited about your presentation, Sierra. Piano, right?”

Sierra nods wordlessly. She’s star-struck by Eddie, a.k.a the boy she’s had a crush on since year eight.

“I’m kinda nervous for mine,” Eddie admits, shifting the guitar case on his shoulder and rubbing his neck sheepishly. “It’s my dad’s guitar, so I really hope I won’t fuck it up.”

Sierra laughs softly as Eddie chuckles self-deprecatingly.

“I’m sure you’ll do great, Eddie,” Crystal replies, seeing Sierra’s dilemma. Eddie grins, making finger-guns and giggling as he walks away. Sierra nearly faints.

“ _You got it bad_ ,” Crystal sings quietly. “ _Got it ba-a-ad_!” Sierra shoves her friend as they walk, but Crystal just laughs.

* * *

The worst happens, of course. Sierra chokes up just before her performance, and she can’t even start to explain herself before Joy is mocking her. Crystal stands up, clearly ready to throw hands, when Sierra takes the easy way out and just runs out with her sheet music. “Miss Deaton-” Mr. Tomlinson calls after her, but she’s out the door before he can say anything else.

“Thanks, Joy,” Crystal spits as she runs out after Sierra.

Mr. Tomlinson sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself.

* * *

She’s at home later when her dad asks her to go clean out the garage. Mom’s studio, in other words. “The realtor said if we’re really serious about selling the house, we’ll need to take pictures,” Her dad explains. “Which means cleaning. _Lots_ of cleaning. Getting rid of stuff, things like that. You’re the only one who would even know where to begin, Sierra. Your sister and I would be hopeless.”

Sierra thinks to herself, looking down at her algebra homework. Obviously, she’s silent for too long because her dad continues. “If you’re not ready, Sierra, I-”

“No, dad-” Sierra tries to smile, knowing her dad just wants the studio to be handled properly. “I guess… I can try tonight.”

“Really?” She nods. Her dad smiles thankfully. “Don’t forget about the loft,” He says. “All those old instruments, your mom would love it if they could find a new home.”

Sierra smiles. “She would.”

Her dad grins. He claps, standing up. “Alright, I need to get to your sister’s football game-” he pats his jeans. “Where are my keys? Keys, keys, keys-”

“Under the mail,” Sierra laughs, turning back to her homework.

Papers rustle, and her father kisses her head. “Life-saver,” He murmurs against her hair. “I’ll see you later,” He says, louder, as he walks out the door.

A long while later, she finally gathers up the courage to head down to the studio. The sun is slowly setting, and she’s in her slippers, but at least she finally made it down. She opens the doors slowly, taking a deep breath once she was inside.

Simply looking around the garage bombarded her with memories of her mom, spending the weekends at the grand piano, writing silly songs and playing.

She rests her hand on the piano, closing her eyes. _I’m sorry, mom,_ she thinks as loud as she can. _It’s been hard to be in here. It’s been hard to play without you._

She takes a shaky breath and lets her hand drop from the piano. She forgoes the main floor, instead climbing up the stairs to the tiny loft where several instruments (including a dismantled drum kit) had been stored since before her parents had moved in. 

It’ll be best to start with the loft, she reasons, since it needs the most work despite being a smaller space. She convinces herself it isn’t because she doesn’t really want to touch anything she still considers her mom’s just yet. 

A CD falls out of the box she was moving, and she frowns. She could’ve sworn all of her mom’s CDs were on the lower level, all together. Sierra sets the box down to grab the CD, which has a piece of paper shoddily cut to fit the front cover.

She assumes that it once had a name on it, but it doesn’t say anything anymore. She doesn’t remember this CD. At all. Which is weird, considering she’s definitely heard every CD, record, and cassette in her mom’s collection at least 3 times. Sierra climbs back down the ladder to the main floor to put the CD in the player in the corner of the room.

Maybe this’ll help her feel closer to her mom.

Upon opening the CD, there’s a name scribbled on the opposite side of the paper. It’s faded, but Sierra thinks it says something like “5 Seconds of Summer” in a hasty scrawl. “Huh,” She mutters. _Never heard of them_. She removes the CD, very clearly an old demo due to its lack of design, and places it in the CD player. She presses play.

A drum beat and a bass line start up nearly simultaneously, a strangely slow groove for the music that Sierra’s mom usually liked. A little guitar riff kicks in. Sierra giggles to herself at how much it sounds like beach-rocker music. It’s fun, though, and she nods her head along to the beat as she climbs back up to the loft. 

It may not be her mom’s usual taste, but at least she gets to clean with music playing.

* * *

Ashton, if he’s being honest, is having a pretty shit day. 

He, Michael, and Luke all got sick just before the Annandale show, then they got stuck in a room, and now he and Luke are in the loft of Michael’s garage with their demo (he can clearly hear the bassline of _Unpredictable_ , the one Luke was really proud of) blasting and some girl shuffling through boxes below them.

He and Luke mostly just popped up here, almost like teleportation. He can’t tell if the girl has realized that they’re there.

“Who is she?” Luke whispered. “Why is she in Mikey’s garage?”

Ashton shrugged helplessly. “Maybe it’s not Mikey’s garage anymore?”

Luke frowned.

Ashton had to admit that, yeah, it didn’t make much sense, considering they’d only been gone for an hour at most. 

As Michael’s voice started from the CD player, the singer himself collapsed on top of Luke, who screeched. 

“What the fuck,” Michael groaned. 

The music stopped. “Hello?” The girl called from the lower level.

Michael twisted his head abruptly to stare incredulously at Ashton. Ashton shrugged. “It’s not like I let her in, asshole,” he grumbled.

“Hello?” The girl asked again, louder. “Is someone up there?”

“Good going, Lucas,” Michael said, digging his elbow into Luke’s side.

“Me?!” Luke asked shrilly. “You’re the one that fell on me!”

“Hey, who’s up there?” The girl asked. 

“Get up, you two,” Ashton huffed, climbing down the loft stairs in hopes that he could be the first to talk to her and not scare her off.

“Um, hi-” Ashton began. The boys had all climbed down when the girl started screaming.

In response, Luke and Michael also started screaming as Ashton cringed. 

“Why are we screaming?!” Michael shouted. 

“What are you doing in my mom’s studio?” The girl demanded. “And how did you get here? Are you squatters or something?”

“Your-” Michael frowned, looking out to the studio.

So, maybe Ashton’s idea wasn’t too crazy. The studio looked like a hippie thrift store had barfed on it, and chairs were hanging from the ceiling. Strange, but it did look cool.

“What did you do to my garage?” Michael whined.

“This has been my mom’s studio for twenty years,” The girl retorted, crossing her arms. “Now, I’d like to know who you are.”

* * *

The girl was still glaring at them as she waited for them to answer. Ashton tried to think quickly, but he was really disoriented, and if he was confused, then Michael and Luke would be completely bewildered.

Ashton clapped once. "Guys, consensus."

Michael huffed but followed Luke in huddling against one of Ashton's sides. If Calum were here, he'd be opposite Ashton, but since he's not, their group huddle is a little… lacking.

"Ok, so you remember the burgers," Ashton started.

"Then the ambulance and the hospital," Luke continued.

Michael scrunched his nose. "I think someone said something about calling my parents."

"Then blackout and the dark room," Ashton said.

"Where Luke cried," Michael snorted.

"Hey!" Luke whined. 

"Completely valid, Lukey," Ashton replied, tossing an arm over Luke's shoulders and side-hugging him. "But anyway, dark room, and then here."

"It couldn't have been more than like, a few hours," Michael groaned. "Why is it hers now?"

"Are you guys going to keep talking like I'm not here," The girl huffed, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. "Or are you actually going to answer my question."

Ashton cringed. "Sorry, it's just- We're a little confused right now."

The girl just stared at him, like,  _ join the club, dude. _

"We're pretty sure we died," Luke said quietly from his side. "And somehow we're back."

"You're, what, ghosts?" The girl asked incredulously.

"Sweet!" Michael grinned, looking a little crazy. "Sounds rad."

The girl scrunched her nose. "'Rad'?" She echoed in disgust. She shook her head. "WHatever. You just… Expect me to believe you?"

"No, I know it sounds insane," Ashton replied. "If you want us to go, we could go."

"We don't have anywhere to go, Ash," Luke hissed. 

"Wherever, or… whenever we are, this garage isn't Mikey's anymore," Ashton replied. "We should respect the lady's space."

The girl frowned, pursing her lips in thought. After a moment, she spoke. "You can stay."

Michael and Luke cheered.

"As long as!" The girl interrupted. "There's no trouble, and you tell me who you are."

"I'm Ashton," he said, waving with a grin.

"Luke," Luke continued quietly.

"I'm Michael," Michael said, jumping on the couch. "You can call me Mikey."

"Mikey!" Luke complained. "Get off my couch!"

"It's my- well,  _ was _ my garage!"

"I'm the one that slept on it for a year!"

Ashton cringed as Luke and Michael continued to argue. "Sorry about them, they don't know when to stop."

"Shut up,  _ dad! _ " They replied in perfect unison.

Ashton groaned. The girl laughed.

"I'm Sierra."

Luke bounded up to her. "That's a pretty name." He looks like he's flashing his baby blues at her, flirtily batting his eyelashes, but Ashton knows that it's just Luke being Luke (otherwise known as a huge dork). However, Sierra doesn't know this, and she seems flustered at his proximity.

"Stop flirting, Lucas," Michael yelled, tackling Luke and nearly knocking him over.

"I was just saying her name was pretty, Michael, shut up!"

Sierra giggled again, a little nervous but recovering from Luke's puppy eyes. "Are they always like this?" She asked as they began wrestling.

Ashton sighed. "Pretty much. Our other band member, Calum, always said it was because they had a crush on each other, and this is just their way of getting the other to pay attention to them."

"Band member?" Sierra echoed.

"Yeah!" Michael shouted from the floor, where he was sitting on Luke's chest. 

"You were listening to our demo just then," Luke said, his voice muffled by the way his face was squashed into the floor and the large mass known as Michael crushing his ribs.

"Your demo?" Sierra asked. "It looked, like, really old, and you guys… Aren't."

"Uh, thanks. I think?" Ashton said.

Sierra frowned, then pulled a strange contraption out of her pocket. 

"What's that?" Michael asked, finally standing up. Luke scrambled up after him, as to avoid being squished again.

"My phone?" Sierra replied as if it was obvious, and they were just dumb.

"That looks like a sheet of plastic," Ashton huffed, never liking being accused of being dumb.

"Yeah, what would you do with that?"

Sierra ignored them, instead tapping on the sheet of plastic-looking material, which responded to her touch and changed depending on what she tapped.

"You were called 5 Seconds of Summer, right?"

Michael nodded proudly, always the one to brag he came up with the name. He had, but he had more forced Luke and Calum into accepting it, and Ashton joined after the naming process, so he just had to accept it.

Sierra hummed as she tapped some more, and the light from the "phone" was starting to hurt Ashton's eyes.

"Oh, here we go," Sierra said. "'Sydney teens…'" She paused. "... 'dead and restaurant sued. Two weeks ago, locals Ashton Irwin, Luke Hemmings, and Michael Clifford were declared dead at Sydney Centre Hospital after eating at a local burger shop. The boys were slated to perform at the Annandale Hotel as 5 Seconds of Summer, with another close friend who has chosen to remain anonymous. The shop has since been sued by lawyer Andrew Hemmings...'"

Luke made a small, pitiful noise at the back of his throat. Ashton wrapped an arm around his shoulder and tugged the smaller boy into his side. Luke wrapped his arms around Ashton's middle gratefully.

"How long did you say you guys were in the dark room for?" Sierra asked, frowning at her phone.

"Like, an hour," Ashton replied. "Felt a little longer, but it wasn't  _ that  _ long."

Sierra tilted her head, grimacing. "It definitely wasn't an hour."

"Why?" Luke asked, raising his head from Ashton's ribcage.

"You died in 1995, right? December 3rd," Sierra replied. The boys nodded. "It's now February. 2020."

The boys blinked at her.

"There's no way it's been 25 years," Ashton said, shocked.

"This is the future?" Michael whispered in awe.

"I cried for 25  _ years _ ?" Luke asked incredulously. 

"You're a very emotional person, Lukey," Michael said with a smirk.

"Shut up, your hair makes you look like a tomato," Luke grumbled, tucking his face back into Ashton's side. 

"I'm sorry," Sierra said. "This must suck a lot."

"I mean, nothing could be worse than those burgers," Michael snarked, more strained than usual. It was clear he was uncomfortable with how serious the atmosphere was, which meant his instincts were screaming to make fun of something, now. Usually, Luke was victim to this instinct more often than not, but Michael thought that'd be just mean with how pitiful Luke looked with his face tucked into Ashton's ribcage.

It worked, though, with everyone else laughing gratefully. 

"Idiot," Luke murmured into Ashton's ribcage, sounding way too affectionate for it to be an insult.

"Sierra!" A shrill voice echoed through the slightly open doors of the garage. 

A small girl came bounding through the doors. "Dad says it's time for dinner," She said. "Stop talking to yourself and come eat!" Then, she skipped off.

"Ugh, Lauren!" Sierra yelled. Her only response was a series of high-pitched giggles.

"You think she can't see us?" Michael asked.

"She would've said something," Sierra replied, frowning after her sister. "Why is it just me?" She whispered. Ashton could hear her, though he supposed she didn't mean for him too, so he kept quiet.

Sierra turned back to them and shrugged. "I should probably get going then."

* * *

Sierra really loved her aunt, but it was really tiring having her come over  _ every single night  _ with a new Vietnamese dish. 

The dishes were delicious, but she just wished it wasn't accompanied by her aunt. 

"Spaghetti again?" Her aunt asked, letting herself in through the door. "I brought  _ banh xeo _ !"

"We'll have it tomorrow, then," Her dad replied with a smile as Sierra and Lauren hid the place setting they had for her mom.

Her aunt patted the now-empty table. "Things are getting better. Good, good."

Sierra nodded and continued to eat her reheated spaghetti and chicken. She heard a strange whooshing sound, and when she looked over, the boys were strolling through the door, led by Michael with an annoyed-looking Ashton and a sheepish Luke.

Sierra yelped.

Everyone looked at her strangely. "Sorry, I'm just-  _ so _ excited that you're here!" Sierra said, grinning at her aunt. 

She glared back at the boys, hoping she was conveying  _ get out. _

Michael leaned forward. "I love what you've done with the place, Sierra," He said with a crazy-looking grin. She just hoped her glare was conveying how  _ badly _ she would like to murder them at the moment. 

"And now that you're out of the music program, you can focus on classes that  _ matter _ ." Her aunt said, never one to beat around the bush. 

The boys cringed, turning tail back out the door. Sierra clenched her jaw as she watched them go and then turned back to her plate.

"What?" Her aunt asked her dad as he glanced at Sierra. "You got the email, too, no?"

Her dad sighed as Sierra stared intently at her pasta. "I did," he admitted. "I was going to discuss it later."

An awkward silence ensued. Her aunt clapped. "Well, I'm off to pilates. Goodnight!"

She patted Lauren's head and exited. Lauren turned to Sierra.

"Hey, Sierra, wanna hear about the epic goal I made at my game today?" Lauren asked, attempting to steer the conversation away from her.

"You're a good sister, but that's not gonna work," her dad said with a chuckle. 

Lauren groaned. "I tried," She said, taking her dishes to the kitchen and clambering up the stairs.

"Sierra," her dad began.

"I meant to tell you," She said. 

Her dad nodded. "I know those classes can be… hard." He sighed, leaning his elbows on the table. "But you still love music, don't you?"

"I do," Sierra sighed. "But. After… I don't know, it's just hard."

"Sierra, we've talked about this. Memories can be painful, but…" Her dad sighed. "Every time I see you and Lauren, I see your Mom, and it's like she's here with us. And I love that. I know that's what music is like for you, and… Just give it a chance, Sierra. Maybe you'll get there."

Suddenly, loud music erupted.

"What is that?" her dad asked.

"I… must've left the radio on in the garage!" Sierra said, scrambling out of her chair and out the door. "I'll go turn it off."

Out in the studio, Ashton, Luke, and Michael had decided to jam out since they had nothing else to do. 

It was kind of weird playing "Gotta Get Out" with only one guitar, but none of them were singing, so they made it work.

Suddenly, Sierra was in front of them. The bass screeched to a halt, and Ashton accidentally hit a cymbal in his haste to stop. Michael made a few pointed notes on his guitar before stopping at Sierra's glare.

"Look, I know I said you could stay, but you  _ cannot _ be playing music that loud this late at night!" She hissed. "The whole neighborhood could hear you, and I really don't-"

"Wait, people could hear us?" Michael asked excitedly.

"Yes, yes they could," Sierra huffed. "Please don't do that again."

"So no one can see us, but everyone can hear us?" Ashton said from the kit, scratching his head with a drumstick. 

"Just sounds like we're lousy ghosts," Luke says, shifting his bass to hang at his side.

"Who cares!" Michael shouted. "People can hear us play!"

He punched Luke in the shoulder as the guitarists set their guitars on the stands. "Owww," Luke whined, rubbing his shoulder. Michael stuck his tongue out.

Ashton pinched the bridge of his nose. "Children, both of you."

The door opened to reveal the older man Michael had seen when they trekked through his old house. 

"Dad!" Sierra exclaimed. "What's up?"

"Just checking you're ok," He said, entering the garage. 

"Yeah, just had to turn off the CD player," Sierra said. 

Her dad turned to look at the instruments the guys had set up. "Wow… This was all the junk that was up in the loft?" He stepped forward, twisting the cymbals as Ashton cringed behind him. 

"Junk?" Michael asked incredulously. "This is not-!"

"Yep," Sierra cut him off. "I can't believe they fit a whole drum kit up there."

Michael looked as red as his hair. Luke giggled at his rage, semi-skipping over to stand next to Sierra.

"It's in pretty good shape," her dad commented. "Maybe we can make a couple of bucks, huh?"

Ashton shook his head violently. "No. No, no, no, no! Not the drum kit. Absolutely not."

"What were you listening to earlier?" Her dad continued, oblivious to the boys' dilemma. "It sounded good."

"Just an old CD I found," Sierra replied. "Must've gotten caught up in the shuffle." 

Her dad nodded. "I'm glad you're listening to music again. And just know that you can play whatever you want out here." As he said this, he swept his hand out and unknowingly swiped it through Michael's chest.

Michael recoiled. "That is so weird," he muttered. Ashton stepped forward and swiped a hand through her dad's head. 

"Don't," she snapped on instinct. Ashton froze and retracted his hand as her dad frowned.

"Sorry, I just," Sierra sighed frustratedly. "Could you give me a minute, dad?"

"I just wanted to let you know that we'll figure out the music program thing, alright?" Her dad said, patting her shoulder before walking out. 

"Listen. I understand it's important or whatever, but I said no trouble," she said, pointing a finger at the boys. "So that means absolutely no music. Got it?"

"Geez, what's got your panties in a twist now?" Michael groaned, flopping on the couch. "You were so nice before."

"Keep talking like that, and I'll be even less nice," Sierra huffed. "Just- Be quiet. No more music." She stormed out, closing the door behind her.

As she made her way up the path to her house, Luke popped up in front of her. She yelped. 

"Sorry!" Luke squeaked.

"Please do  _ not _ do that," Sierra huffed. "Now, go away."

"I just wanted to talk to you," Luke said, looking hurt. 

Sierra froze.  _ Do not fall for the sad eyes, Sierra, _ she scolded herself.  _ Do not fall for- _

"Fine," she sighed. "What?"

Luke jumped slightly, as if surprised she said yes. "I, um, think it's pretty obvious you've had a bad day, and I'm sorry that you're going through something dealing with music, I think, but-" He took a deep breath. "No music? Like, at all?"

"Yes, no music," Sierra crossed her arms. "Problem?"

Luke looked down at the ground. He paused, took a deep breath, as if steeling himself, then looked up. "Yes," he admitted. "Look, I know you don't like it or something, but it was our whole life," Luke pleaded. 

"I don't hate music," Sierra admitted. "It's just…"

"The bad day?" Luke asked softly. 

Sierra sighed.

"I'm sorry," Luke said. "I know we're kinda disruptive at the least, but… Music was the only thing we had, and we thought we had lost it. Now, we have it again, and it kinda feels like everything's gonna be ok, so please, please, pretty please, don't take it away from us." Sierra clenched her jaw, refusing to meet Luke's eyes. He sighed, noticing he was losing her. "Your mom is into music, so you know that-"

"Was," Sierra interrupted sharply. "My mom  _ was  _ into music."

Luke's eyes widened. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

"We didn't know," a new voice said. Sierra turned her head to see Ashton standing by the stair railings, with a disgruntled Michael in tow. His eyes were soft with empathy, a caring twist to his mouth, which Sierra had seen on her dad's face countless times before. Luke and Michael's jab at him, despite being joking, made a lot of sense now.

"Like you said," Sierra replied, her throat threatening to close up. "You didn't know. Nothing to apologize for." After a beat, she spoke again. "You guys, haven't like, seen her anywhere, have you?"

Ashton shook his head. "You're the only person we've seen since we died."

Michael huffed. "Ash, she was talking about ghosts, how would-"

"I think she gets the point," Ashton hissed, clamping his hand over Michael's mouth and trapping the red-haired boy in a headlock. Michael didn't struggle, just frowned and exhaled sharply through his nose. 

"I'm sorry for your loss," Luke murmured. His eyes were shining with unshed tears. Sierra had a feeling that she was going to be falling victim to Luke's pretty blue eyes a lot. 

"I'm sorry I yelled," Sierra said. "You guys aren't too bad."

Michael licked Ashton's palm, causing him to yelp. "'Not too bad'?" Michael echoed once Ashton had let him go. "You do realize that was like, 25  _ years _ of rust getting dusted off, right?"

Sierra laughed. 

"Hey, there was a piano in there," Luke commented, wiping his eyes and sniffing lightly. "Do you play, too?"

Sierra shook her head, not wanting to get into this conversation with anyone right now. "Oh, no, that's all my mom's stuff."

"No way," Michael gasped. "She's an amazing songwriter."

Sierra frowned. "She was. How would you know?"

Michael winced. "I found a song on the piano. It's really good," He said. "Not my usual taste, but. She's really talented."

Sierra glanced at the doors. "Alright. You can play music," The boys erupted in cheers. "But!" Sierra said. "No music after 7pm or before 5am."

"Whatever!" Michael crowed, hugging a smiling Ashton. 

"Thank you!" Luke said with a grin.

* * *

"So, what exactly are we doing around Sydney at night?" Luke asked nervously as they sat on the edge of a building later.

"We'll hit as many clubs as we can before sunrise," Michael replied. "We have a second chance to make music, so we gotta find out what people like these days!"

"Because clubs are such a good place to go for the best taste in music," Ashton grumbled. "Why not just stick with our regular sound?"

"We could get a following, but all the fans would call us "retro" rock, or like, "inspired by the sound of the 90s" or whatever," Michael replied. "I don't really want a reminder that we don't belong here."

"Fine," Ashton huffed. 

They teleported to the street below, where Luke and Michael began walking with a purpose. Ashton lagged behind, simply looking at how Sydney had changed. Apparently, 25 years can make a big difference. Suddenly, he collided with a very well-dressed man. His light eyes seemed to reflect the city lights.

"Ash, c'mon!" Michael yelled.

The man winked at him as he turned around, his long coat and hair fluttering in the night breeze. Ashton frowned but turned around to catch up with the guys. 

* * *

The next morning, Sierra woke up early to head out to the studio. She had tried to text Crystal last night, telling her about the boys. She knew, though, that her best friend would call her crazy. She might've even told her dad, and Sierra's not really interested in seeing the grief therapist again. Ever.

"Guys?" She asks, tossing her school bag on a chair. "Guys?"

She has something she wants to do, and she doesn't really want any of them creeping on her. 

The cover's already been pulled off the piano, most likely by Michael, and her mom's song sits spread out on the top of it. Taking a deep breath, Sierra sits down at the bench and begins to play. 

She and her mom called it "Wake Up," and Sierra thought it'd be the best thing for her first song since… You-Know-What, and as well as an apology to her mom, wherever she was. 

Sierra could imagine a drum line to this song, a beautiful combination of simple piano and the simple rhythm of toms. She could feel the hear of the sunrise from the window behind her as she started the chorus. 

The music seemed to flow through her, and-  _ wow.  _ Just,  _ wow. _ She forgot how much she had missed music, how much she loved it. She swore she could feel her mom next to her as she sang.

It was the most beautiful thing in Sierra's world.


	2. Episode Two - Never Be / Heartbreak Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We'll never be as young as we are now / it's time to leave this old black and white town / let's seize the day / let's run away / don't let the colors fade to grey.” - “Never Be”  
> “I dedicate this song to you / the one who never sees the truth / that I can take away your hurt / heartbreak girl / hold you tight straight through the daylight / i'm right here when you gonna realize / that I'm your cure / heartbreak girl.”  
> \- “Heartbreak Girl”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: If you have read this fic before 12-23-2020, the first chapter has been edited to include the entirety of episode one. Please go read that first to avoid spoilers!  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> I currently have a tentative posting schedule- a weekly (wednesday) release! It's still a work in progress, currently, but I'm enough chapters ahead that I should be able to keep up with it.
> 
> Lastly: cw// implied homophobia - It's implied that Luke was called some names for his style, but nothing is said.
> 
> Wish me luck, I suppose!

Ashton, Luke, and Michael stood in shock behind Sierra as she finished playing the song Michael had found on the piano yesterday.

They hadn't meant to be out for so long, but Luke was glad they hadn't shown up too much earlier. 

As Sierra lifted her fingers off the piano, her back began to shake, and Luke could hear sniffles coming from her. Hoping to comfort her, he reached out, but Ashton grabbed his hand and teleported them out.

Outside, Luke whirled to Ashton. "What was that?" He whispered. "Sierra needs a hug, Ash!"

"Lukey, a ghost hug is not exactly the  _ feel-good  _ moment you think it is," Michael said, rolling his eyes. 

"She needs a little time alone, Luke," Ashton continued. "It was something special to her mom. She probably has a lot of memories with music, and from her reaction, not all of them are happy."

Luke huffed, crossing his arms. He didn't know why he felt so protective of Sierra, but he just wanted to wrap her up in his arms and keep her safe.

Not like he could, considering he was weighed barely 55 kilos.

"I think you two just can't handle when other people cry," Luke huffed. "I should know; I cried for 25  _ years  _ without a single hug from either of you."

"Aw, Lukey," Ashton said, opening his arms and stepping forward.

"It's too late  _ now  _ !" Luke complained. Ashton held his hands up in surrender.

"This is why no one hugs you, Lucas," Michael said, shoving his shoulder. Luke just huffed.

"But after she's done with that," Michael said. "We should ask her why she lied about the piano stuff."

"Michael," Ashton scolded.

"How about we tell her how good she is, and then we get to that," Luke offered. 

Michael shrugged. "Whatever."

"She is really good, Mikey," Ashton said. "If we were still alive, I would've gotten chills, dude."

Suddenly, another girl burst through the gate and onto the stairs to the garage. She hurried past the boys, part of her swiping through Ashton's side. She was sniveling.

"Is she crying, too?" Luke asked as she entered the garage.

"Seems like it," Ashton said.

"The only thing scarier than one girl crying is two girls crying!" Michael yelped. 

"Mikey," Ashton chided. 

"What?" Michael shrugged. "Emotional girls are scary."

"You're sc- that doesn't work, nevermind," Luke muttered.

* * *

Sierra looked up as Crystal entered.

"Lauren said you'd be out here," Crystal said, tugging at the edge of her cropped jacket. "I need to talk to you."

"What's up?" Sierra asked, shuffling the sheet music back into a pile.

"'What's up'?" Crystal echoed. "You got  _ kicked out  _ of music, and all you say is 'what's up'?"

"Crystal," Sierra began.

"Nope!" Crystal replied. "I thought all night about what I needed to say, and I might've had a Monster on the way here."

"Crystal, that's way too much caffeine," Sierra said. 

"I know, but I didn't sleep," Crystal said. "Hey! Don't distract me."

"Crystal-"

"No! No interruptions, let me say what I need to say."

Crystal stood next to the piano bench, and Sierra turned to face her. "You  _ can't  _ give up music. Your music is like a gift, and you know I  _ love  _ gifts."

"Crystal-"

"Ah-ah-ah! Let me finish. If you stop doing the music program, I'll be alone! We'll have new lives, different friends. We'll only see each other in the hallways or on Instagram where we'll like each other's posts," Crystal clutches her heart. "Every heart I tap, the more mine breaks."

A beat of silence. "Are you done?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Crystal replied, slinging her bag off her shoulder and pulling out another can of Monster.

"Crystal," Sierra scolded.  _ Huh, I kinda sound like Ashton. _

"What? I  _ told  _ you I didn't sleep. It's your fault, really."

Sierra rolled her eyes fondly. "Well, you'll be happy to know that I just played the piano and sang again."

"What?!" Crystal shrieked. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I tried, but your caffeine intake kicked in," Sierra laughed, tidying up the song.

"What made you change your mind?"

"My mom wrote this song for me," Sierra said. "I was trying to play it, but everything about music just reminded me of her."

Crystal set a hand on her shoulder blade. 

"I realized this morning that that's exactly  _ why  _ I should play it. To keep her memory alive," Sierra said, closing the keyboard cover gently. 

Crystal sniffed, then wiped beneath her eye. "That is so sweet, Sierra." 

Sierra smiled. 

"Alright, c'mon, now! Time to go tell Mr. Tomlinson and save us from the bleak future I mentioned earlier. To school!"

"Never thought I would hear you say 'to school' that excitedly," Sierra said, laughing as she picked up her bag and let herself be pulled out of the garage by Crystal.

As they walked up the stairs, Sierra saw the guys standing by the garage doors, looking as if they were attempting to be inconspicuous, but failing epically.

"Don't worry!" Michael said. "We weren't liste- ow!"

Ashton jabbed him in the shoulder as Sierra frowned.

* * *

After Michael's near-slip up, the three boys phased through the doors of the garage.

"I wonder why Sierra didn't tell us she could sing," Luke murmured, staring at the piano.

"And play!" Michael shouted. "Girl can shred."

"Is shred really the appropriate word, considering it's a piano?" Luke asked. 

"Well, she did say that music reminded her of her mom," Ashton said, climbing up to the loft. "Maybe that wasn't a good thing until now."

"And now all of us have music back in our lives!" Luke cheered, walking over to the piano.

"I'm not sure we count in the whole 'having lives' thing," Ashton remarked, leaning over the railing of the loft. When he leaned back, he grinned. "Luke! I found some of our clothes up here!"

"Any of mine?" Michael asked. 

Ashton tossed over a large duffel bag, which landed on the floor with a loud thwap. Luke immediately began rifling through the bag. He pulled out a white cropped shirt and a large flannel (which probably was Michael's), pulling off his cutoff tee and replacing it with the new items.

"I don't think so, Mikey," Ashton said, cringing apologetically.

Michael shrugged. "Eh, makes sense. All of my stuff was probably in the house."

Ashton grabbed a backpack. "Hey, catch, will you!"

He dropped the bag over. Michael caught it with a loud exhale. "What's in this, Ash? Bricks?"

Luke giggled, wrapping the flannel around himself.

Ashton rolled his eyes as he sat with his legs hanging from the railing as Michael dropped the backpack on the ground. 

From behind them, the garage door opened, and Sierra's dad walked in. He passed right through Michael, who shuddered and fake-gagged. "Oh, I hate that."

Her dad was holding a camera, and he took a picture before speaking. "So, how are you?"

A pause. "Honestly, not great-," Luke began before Sierra's dad kept talking.

"Sierra sang for the first time today," Her dad said, moving to a different spot and taking another picture. "You would've  _ loved  _ it.

"Oh, he's not talking to us," Michael observed. 

"You two are lucky you can play guitars," Ashton said from the loft. He appeared next to Michael. "I think he's talking to Sierra's mom."

"You'd be proud," Sierra's dad continued. "She reminds me of you more and more every day."

"Called it," Ashton said.

"Y'know what," Luke said, moving by the guys. "This reminds me, none of us have tried to find our families."

Ashton blinked. "What, you want to go see your parents?"

Luke balked. "I- no."

Ashton shrugged. "We could go check on my family, then." He paused. "Listening to this feels… wrong."

They looked back to Sierra's dad as he kept talking quietly to himself and taking pictures, and disappeared.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Sierra," Mr. Tomlinson said, preparing his sheet music for the day. "I'm thrilled you sang again. You have a lot of talent. But I can't allow you back into the program."

"Mr. Tomlinson," Crystal complained. "You know how crazy good she is!"

"I do," Mr. Tomlinson replied. "But there's-"

"Only so many spots," Sierra finished. 

Mr. Tomlinson nodded. "I'm glad you found whatever you needed to reconnect to music, Sierra. I hope you keep chasing that. If you want, you'll have to reapply next semester."

She nodded, pulling an about-to-complain Crystal out the door as Mr. Tomlinson's first hour class began filing in.

* * *

"A bike shop," Ashton muttered in shock. "They tear down the whole neighborhood, and they replace my house with a bike shop."

They stood on the beach that used to be as good as Ashton's front yard, looking at the place his run-down one-story house used to sit.

"'m sorry, Ash," Luke murmured.

"Least they could've done was make it into a pizzeria," Michael huffed, rubbing Ashton's shoulder.

"It's all gone," Ashton said. "Really shows how long it's been."

"25 years," Luke said. "Kinda crazy."

"Guys, everything's gone," Michael said. "This is not news."

"What d'ya think happened to Calum?" Luke pondered, staring at the sand.

Michael bristled. Ashton grinned.

"I bet he became a footy player," Ashton said. "Went to Brazil again, became the great football star, Calum Hood!" He jabbed at Luke, trying to make him smile.

"Doubt it," Michael said curtly. "He probably got old and moved on like everyone else."

"Why're you being such a downer, Mikey?" Luke whined.

" _ Why _ ," Michael retorted, "are we wasting time trying to look for our parents?"

"Mikey-" Ashton began, sensing a rant.

"It's not like we were all that close! My parents always regretted buying me a guitar. Luke, you  _ slept  _ in my garage for nearly a year because of yours." Luke cringed, wrapping his arms around his middle. Michael barreled on. "And, Ash, your parents were never cool after you told them you're bi!"

"None of us had it great," Ashton said. "But we had something. We don't have anything now."

"We have music," Luke said, sniffing.

"Lukey," Ashton began. 

"No, Luke's right," Michael said, standing up. "We have music and each other. Just like always." Michael jumped up on a piece of driftwood. "And people can still hear us play! Imagine, we could go and busk out on the pier like we used to in the summer. We can still have that connection with people, you guys."

"But how could they have a connection with what they can't see?" Ashton huffed. 

"If I had my guitar, I could show you!" Michael said, grinning like a mad man.

With a sound like a chord just one note off, Michael's acoustic guitar dropped down into his hands.

"Whoa," Michael breathed.

"Wait, how'd you do that?" Ashton said, frowning.

"I just wished," Michael said, shrugging one shoulder as he put the strap over his head.

"I wish I had a puppy!" Luke shouted, sticking out his hands and squeezing his eyes shut. He cracked one eye open when nothing appeared. "A… hamster?" He tried, opening his eyes fully. "Pizza?" Nothing. He sighed.

"Guess it's just instruments," Michael shrugged, starting to tune the guitar by ear.

"You guys are just… okay with this?" Ashton asked incredulously. "Why do we keep finding new…  _ powers  _ like this?"

"Does it matter?" Michael shrugged as he finished tuning. "Chill out, Ash."

"Oh, fuck off, Michael!" Ashton huffed. "Why am I the only one who's not okay with all… this!" He gestured around.

"Ash," Luke said. "We're just trying to make the best of it. It's not like we can do much else."

"Other than play!" Michael exclaimed, strumming on his guitar.

Ashton rolled his eyes as Luke started clapping and using his thighs as drums. "Do I have to sing?" Ashton groaned.

"You're the best improv singer," Michael replied. "And God knows Luke isn't gonna sing."

"Hey!" 

"Am I wrong?"

"...no, but you didn't have to say it."

Ashton laughed. He sighed. "Fine."

The three of them wandered around the beach, with Ashton making up lyrics as they weaved through (sometimes literally) the beachgoers, watching as they danced to their music.

Ashton thought he could get used to this. He still wasn't fully  _ okay  _ with the fact that they had an  _ after _ life, but he was glad he wasn't alone. He probably would've had a breakdown by now.

They decided to actually walk back to Sierra's house, skipping along and attempting to scat sing.

"I cannot scat," Michael huffed as they finally got back to the garage. "Jesus."

* * *

Later, they were in Sierra's room attempting to interact with more things, seeing what they could and couldn't pick up.

So far, they had the most luck with their instruments, but virtually nothing else. Luke had thought it was just because the things he was trying to grab were too heavy, but then he failed to grab a pencil off the coffee table. 

Michael had laughed at him for ten minutes. 

Ashton was the only one who was actually trying to pick anything up, while Michael just stared at a box on Sierra's shelf, and Luke was just running his fingers over the soft blankets on Sierra's bed.

He couldn't really feel anything, per sé, but the repetitive back-and-forth movement was calming. 

Luke wished he could feel soft things so he could take his brother's giant sweatshirt out of the duffel bag of clothes out in the garage and actually feel normal.

He supposed he could still wear that sweatshirt, but he thought there was a good chance that he'd cry from not being able to feel it, so he's sticking to the plethora of flannels he'd stolen over the years from Michael. 

"What are you doing?" 

Luke shot up into a sitting position, staring wide-eyed at Sierra.

"We were…" Michael trailed off.

"Looking for the kitchen?" Luke said, smiling awkwardly.

Ashton rolled his eyes.

" _ This _ ," Sierra hissed. "This cannot happen." She pointed at Luke. "Off."

Luke scrambled off, sitting on her ottoman instead.

"Sorry, Sierra," Ashton said, finally grabbing the picture he had been trying to for the past ten minutes. "We're trying to-" He moved behind the bed and then dropped the picture frame onto the bed. "Oh, shit."

"If you break that, I'll break you," Sierra huffed, snatching it off the bed. 

"'S that your mom?" Michael asked.

"Yeah," Sierra replied, placing it onto her bedside table. "Listen, guys. Boundaries. We need them. No more going in my room, alright? You have your space; I've got mine."

Ashton nodded. "Of course."

Luke nodded, smiling. 

Sierra blinked at him, doing a bit of a double-take. "Are you wearing a-"

Suddenly her dad tapped on the door. "Sierra?"

"Dad!" She exclaimed, turning around.

"You alright?" He asked. "Thought I heard you talking to someone."

"I just got off the phone with Crystal," Sierra replied. "I was just planning out our next project."

"Out loud?"

"Yeah," Sierra replied awkwardly.

"If anything's wrong, you can tell me."

Sierra smiled softly. "I know, Dad. Thank you."

Her dad smiled, exiting the room and closing the door behind him. 

"Hey, Sierra," Michael said. "What's in the box?"

"None of your business," Sierra snapped. 

"Ohhh," Michael said. "Girl stuff," He said in a falsetto.

Sierra rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot."

"So like," Ashton said. "Butterflies and glitter?"

"That's a little-" Luke began.

"Again, none of your business," Sierra huffed. "And yes, there may be a bit of glitter."

"I like glitter," Luke said with a smile. 

Sierra glanced at him. "Did you make that shirt, or did you buy it?" Ashton and Michael stiffened.

Luke froze. "Um. I- I don't know what you want me to say," He stuttered.

"What, you have a problem with him?" Michael said, tearing his eyes away from the box and hovering protectively. 

"No," Sierra said, genuinely confused. "I was just gonna say that your alterations are, like, really clean. Like, it almost looks like you just bought it like that."

Luke smiled proudly, tugging at the hem of his shirt. "It took a bit of practice."

Sierra smiled. "I have a few failed experiments, too," She admitted. "Altering clothes is not as easy as people make it look."

Luke grinned at her. Michael unclenched his jaw.

"What did you think I was going to say?" 

"Well, the most likely response from someone in high school would've been saying-" Michael started, then abruptly caught himself as Ashton frowned at him. "Sorry, Ash."

Ashton sighed. "Luke got called… Let's just say he got called some… names for wearing a shirt like that."

Sierra gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry, I came off kinda combative, didn't I?" She reached out but stopped herself. She looked Luke in the eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Luke grinned. "I know."

Michael fell onto the bed in front of Sierra. "Sierra?"

"Ugh, what?"

"What's in the box?"

“I just said-” Sierra groaned. 

Michael jumped up from the bed, pacing back to the box Sierra had told him to leave alone. “I know, but now I can’t stop thinking about it!” He whined.

Sierra groaned. “It’s like, a thought box. Whenever I have something stuck in my head, I write it out and put it in there.”

“Like song lyrics?” Luke asked.

“They’re more like poems,” Sierra said. “They might be songs if I wrote with my mom like I used to. It’s mostly just stuff that makes me happy.”

Luke smiled. Michael just stared at the box.

“Hey, where is the kitchen, anyway?” Ashton asked.

“It’s downstairs,” Sierra said, shrugging. “What were you doing here, then?”

“Trying to pick stuff up,” Ashton said. 

Sierra raised an eyebrow. 

“We’ve discovered that we can’t pick up everything,” Ashton said. “It takes a lot of effort to grab anything else other than our instruments.”

“Really?” Sierra asked. 

“Yeah, watch this!” Luke said, holding out his arms. His shiny blue bass dropped into his hands, the sudden weight knocking him backward.

“Oh, yeah, that is the definition of  _ ease _ ,” Sierra giggled. 

Luke grinned as he pushed himself up. 

“We’re not sure why,” Ashton continued. “Michael says it’s ‘cause our souls are connected to them or something.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Ashton rolled his eyes. 

“Alright, I have homework to do, so clear out you three.”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” Luke said, jokingly saluting her. Ashton huffed, pushing him. Ashton walked out first, Luke following behind him as he plucked the bass strings in horrible off-key slapping sounds. 

Michael paused as he started following them, and he turned to Sierra. “Thanks,” he said. “For being all,” he gestured to Sierra. “Y’know to Lukey. He-” Michael sighed. “He’s been through a lot. Just. Thanks for. Not being a jerk.”

Sierra smiled at Michael, a little amused at his clear discomfort at the sweet tone of his gratitude. “Of course, Michael.”

As Michael left, he called behind him, “Oh, and I loved what you did with my old room; looks great!”

“What?!” Sierra hissed as the guitarist strolled out of her room, laughing maniacally.

After a moment, Luke poked his head in again. “Sorry to bother you,” he said, smiling apologetically. “Did you get back into the music program?”

Sierra sighed, smiling sadly. “No.”

“Oh,” Luke said, looking as sad as she felt. “I’m sorry. That- sucks.”

Sierra laughed softly. “Thanks, Lukey.”

Luke blushed and ducked out of the room.

* * *

When she went downstairs a bit later, Lauren was on the couch playing some game on her tablet, and her dad was staring intensely at his computer.

“Hey, dad,” she said. “What’cha working on?”

“Well, since the house is up for sale, I’m uploading some pictures to the site,” Her dad explained as she strolled over. “Help me pick some good ones.”

“Oh, wow,” Sierra said, gaping at the pictures. Sometimes she forgets her dad is a professional photographer. “These are great, dad.”

He grins. “Thanks, sweetheart.” He turns back to the computer. “The ones from your mom’s studio didn’t turn out, though,” He said, showing a picture of the window behind the piano. Two glowing orbs floated in the picture. In another, facing the doors, there were three orbs- the _ guys. _

“There’s all these weird lights and spots all over the place,” her dad continued. “A couple of them look like orbs. Probably just the lighting, though.”

“Orbs?” Lauren asked excitedly from the couch. “I’ve seen some freaky stuff about those. People say they’re ghosts!” She paused, her voice a little softer. “Y’think it’s mom, and she made some friends?”

“That’s a nice thought,” her dad said. “But ghosts aren’t real, honey.”

“Sounds like someone’s been watching too much Buzzfeed Unsolved after bedtime,” Sierra said, pushing down her panic and leaning against the back of the couch as Lauren hung off it the opposite way. “You could probably just take new ones later.”

Her dad nodded, muttering to himself.

“Dad?” Sierra asked. Her dad hummed. “Why are we moving?”

He paused. “Well,” Her dad said, turning away from the computer. “Your aunt says-”

“Moving is moving on,” She replied. “But- Do we  _ have _ to?”

“You were the first to go for it,” Her dad said. “What made you change your mind?”

“This morning,” Sierra admitted, “I went out really early, and I played again.”

“Oh, we know,” Lauren said. “We heard you.”

Her dad smiled and nodded. “We did. I’ve always thought that moving on isn’t always physical.”

“All our memories of mom are here,” Sierra said, ruffling Lauren’s hair as she stood on her knees on the couch, facing them. “Shouldn’t we be here, too?”

“Staying here?” Her dad said. “All in favor, say ‘aye’!”

“Aye!” Sierra and Lauren shouted, raising their hands with their dad.

“Overwhelming majority!” Her dad cries. “That calls for a group hug.”

Lauren clambered over the back of the couch, and her dad pulled them both in, squeezing tightly.

“I’ll have to go call the real estate agent,” Her dad said as the hug broke. “Where is my phone?”

“I saw it in the kitchen last,” Lauren said. 

Her dad held his hand out. Sierra sighed. She grabbed his hand and walked to the kitchen to help him find his phone.

* * *

Later that night, Sierra turned the corner and found Luke standing in front of her fridge, the door open. 

She jumped. “What are you doing?”

Luke just shrugged. “We were looking for the kitchen earlier. Just got. Sidetracked.” He was still wearing the crop top, except now he didn’t have the giant flannel on, and-  _ eyes up, Sierra!  _

She walked over to the fridge. “Do you guys even eat?”

“No,” Luke said sadly. “I wish.”

Sierra chuckled, grabbing the cheese and closing the door to the fridge.

“Hey,” Luke complained. “That took me forever to open.”

“Sorry,” Sierra said. “I don’t believe in wasting power.” She went to make herself a snack while Luke hopped up onto the island counter.

“Speaking of power,” Luke said, sounding nervous as she began to assemble a cheese toastie, “We heard you play this morning.”

Sierra froze. 

“We know we weren’t supposed to,” Luke said. “We only saw, like, the last bit, and we poofed out after you started crying, so-”

“Seriously?” Sierra huffed. “That’s supposed to make me feel better? That was  _ private _ , Luke.”

“I know,” Luke said. “And I’m really sorry. But, Sierra, you’re so talented. You’d be like a musical wrecking ball.”

Sierra shook her head. “Whatever it is you’re trying to get me to do, stop it.”

“You belong in that music program,” Luke said. 

“Not enough to get back in right now.”

“Yes, you do!” Luke said. “Your teacher’s just an idiot.”

“Well, it’s too late,” Sierra replied. “I asked, he said no.”

“I told Michael that’s probably what happened,” Luke said. “And he said that was your first mistake.”

“What?”

“Asking!” Luke said, kicking his legs out. “We booked gigs by doing, Sierra. We went to every club we could find. I think we played at Michael’s mom’s book club once,” he cringed slightly. “Not the best, but-”

“Do you listen to Michael often?” She asked, pushing her toast into the toaster oven. 

“Mikey’s our guy for rock’n’roll, punk, stick-it-to-the-man, music stuff, so yeah, I guess,” Luke admitted. “If you want actual intelligence, though, Ashton’s your guy.”

Sierra laughed. “Not surprised.”

“And you know what else Michael says?” Luke asked. Sierra panicked at his flirty glance. Was this like the other day when he had called her name pretty and looked like he was flirting with her, but she didn’t think he actually was-

“Don’t  _ ask _ for permission,” Luke continued with a grin. 

Yep. He was just kinda dumb.

“Swing your wrecking ball of talent right through those rules!” Luke said, swinging his legs around in a circular wheel. If only he knew how funny that was. Absently, Sierra thinks she should probably show them music from after they died.

“Tell Michael that this is a school, and I can’t do that,” Sierra huffed. “They’re not just gonna  _ let _ me back in, either.”

“I wasn’t saying you just crash the class. You just gotta go for it.” Luke huffed. 

Sierra raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t have anything prepared, Luke.”

Luke grinned. pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket and quickly unfolded it. “Calum wrote a lot of our stuff, but me, Mikey, and Ash worked on some of our own stuff. This is one we hadn’t gotten to recording. Here.” 

He shoved the paper at her. Sierra accepted it hesitantly. 

“Long Way Home,” she read.

“Mikey and I thought it’d be perfect for your range. I can- um.” Luke swallowed. “I’m not much of a singer, but-”

Hesitantly, as if expecting something to smite him for singing, Luke sang what seemed like the chorus. “ _ So we’re taking the long way home, and I don’t want to be wasting my time alone. I wanna get lost and drive forever, talking about nothing, yeah whatever.  _ Here, you come in-,  _ so we’re taking the long way-  _ you stay-  _ home. _ ”

The line ended in a pretty harmony. Luke smiled sheepishly as Sierra grinned.

“Not a singer, my ass,” Sierra huffed, nudging Luke. “That was great.”

Luke rubbed the back of his neck.  _ Eyes stay up, Sierra, eyes stay up!  _ “I mean, you and Mikey are much better, so.”

“Well, I’ve never heard Mikey sing, so until proven otherwise-” Sierra said. “You are the better singer, Lu.”

Luke blushed.

Sierra found that she quite enjoyed making him blush.

* * *

The next day, Sierra heard loud music coming from the gym as she headed to the music room. “Pep assembly,” She groaned. As she got closer to the entrance, she saw Crystal outside the gym doors, playing something on her switch.

“Crystal?” 

Crystal tugged out an earbud. “Oh, hey, how come you found me so late? We always skip pep assemblies.”

“I had this plan to sing for Mr. Tomlinson,” Sierra said, dropping down to the floor next to her best friend. “Proving that I could be in the music program, but. Guess I’m too late.”

Crystal raised an eyebrow. She shook her head, turning off her switch and stashing it in her bag. “Uh-uh. Not giving up yet, you still have a chance!” Crystal stood, pulling Sierra along. 

They entered the gym to Joy’s girl group Dirty Candy performing to some electronic techno music that Sierra kind of wished she could describe as a nightmare but couldn’t. 

The worst part of Joy considering Sierra her rival was the fact that Joy was actually  _ really _ good. The thing is, Joy knew it too, and so did her rich parents. Not only was she good, but she had the ability to add the flash and glamour of professional singers and dancers- something Sierra did not have.

“Wow, Joy’s dad really went all-out with the whole ‘absent rich parent’ routine, huh?” Crystal observed.

“It paid off,” Sierra replied. “For Joy, at least.”

All of the girls in Dirty Candy were fantastic. Sierra felt her stomach sink lower and lower. How could she compare?

She heard the familiar whoosh of the guys appearing.

“Sierra!” Michael cheered. 

“What are you doing here?” She hissed.

“We wanted to be here for you,” Ashton said, grinning. “Guys?”

Luke and Michael were staring, wide-eyed at the Dirty Candy girls.

“I don’t remember this from high school,” Luke murmured.

Sierra felt a strange lurch in her chest as the boys watched Dirty Candy. Luke even tried to dance along a bit before being shoved by Michael. 

Dirty Candy finally finished their routine. “Thank you!” Joy said cheerfully. “Don’t forget to check out my new youtube video.” A brief pause. “Oh, and go Bobcats!”

The Dirty Candy girls sashayed away as the principal walked to the spotlight.

“Now’s your chance,” Crystal whispered, pointing at Mr. Tomlinson, who was opposite the principal. “See you in music class,” she said, sitting on the stairs of the bleachers.

“And for other announcements-”

Sierra tuned out the principal as she turned to the boys. 

“What’re you waiting for?” Luke asked. 

“I- I can’t, you guys.”

“You okay?” Ashton asked. “You look really nervous, like- yak-in-a-bowl nervous.”

“I don’t think I can do this,” Sierra admitted. “I didn’t have enough time to prepare and-”

“Hey,” Luke said. “We wouldn’t have given you the song if we didn’t know you would crush it.”

“There’s a piano up there with your name on it, girlie!” Michael said. “Go!”

“Don’t call me girlie,” Sierra huffed. She still ran up the stage entrance to the piano.

She heard the principal release the students as she hesitantly took a seat at the keyboard. 

When she hesitated, Luke yelled, “you got this!” at her.

She began playing the opening chords of Long Way Home. They had to improvise a piano part for her, considering they hadn’t really planned on having a piano when they wrote it for 5 Seconds of Summer.

As she began singing, she felt the lights come up. 

She ignored the crowd, just letting herself feel the music.

The guys jumped in as the second half of her first verse started. She saw her classmates flood towards the stage as she jumped from the piano, getting up to sing with Michael.

She spotted someone recording with their phone and people looking directly at the guys.

Looking. At. The. Guys.

When Michael’s solo chorus started up, Luke stood by her, still playing.

“Is this really happening?” He asked in a squeaky tone.

“Looks like it,” Sierra said, feeling just as nervous.

She looked over to Luke, who she realized was still in his white crop top and flannel, looking like he would explode (literally or into tears) if you touched him.

“Hey,” she said into his ear. “No one’s gonna be mean about it. Just go with it, Luke!”

He still looked nervous. “I promise!” She said, before diving into the next verse, a duet with Michael, who she definitely saw wink at one of the Dirty Candy girls.

As the song went on, Luke got into it and relaxed enough to look like he was having fun to Sierra.

As the song ended, the crowd erupted in cheers. Sierra and the boys took a hesitant bow. The crowd gasped as the boys disappeared.

_ This was going to be a bitch to explain. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The “I cannot scat” line of Michaels is legit an ad-lib from Charlie Gillespie in the recording of “This Band is Back” (@ 1:33 timestamp you’re welcome) and it was so adorable I wanted to include it


	3. Episode Three - Kiss Me, Kiss Me / Everything I Didn't Say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So kiss me, kiss me, kiss me / i'm dying just to see you again / let's make tonight the best of our lives / here's to teenage memories.” - “Kiss Me Kiss Me"  
> "Taking every breath away / with all of the mistakes I made / from all the letters that I saved / this is everything I didn't say." - "Everything I Didn't Say"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of 2021 babeyyy!
> 
> Winter quarter at my university has just started, so I may be a bit behind in updates, as I'm currently writing episode six... 
> 
> Anyway. I'm actually quite proud of this work, as it's shaping up to be the longest fic I've ever written! I know it's a bit niche, but if you liked it at all, it'd be awesome if you could leave a comment or a kudos!
> 
> Enjoy!

Sierra stood awkwardly as the students whispered among each other. 

“Where’d the rest of the band go?” The light tech intern asked.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, someone from the audience yelled out. 

“Wait, were those holograms?” Sierra turned abruptly to see Ashlyn, Eddie’s cousin and Joy’s right-hand woman in Dirty Candy, grinning excitedly.

“Yes!” Sierra said, relieved. “Yes, holograms. They were holograms. I, uh, I’d explain it, but it’s a lot of science and maths, so…” She trailed off as the audience nodded and cheered. 

And Joy looked pissed, so that was a bonus.

Off to the side, the boys stood frowning at the students.

“So, they could see us when the music started but not after?” Luke asked, his flannel wrapped around his abdomen self-consciously. 

“I’ll double-check,” Michael said. He rushed up the stairs to wiggle his ass at two of the girls that had performed earlier. He checked. They didn’t react, still murmuring and looking at Sierra. 

“Nope, they can’t see us,” Michael said.

“I wish I couldn’t see you,” Ashton whispered, a disgusted look on his face.

“Alright!” A woman in a pantsuit exclaimed. “Show’s over, back to class, please!”

The students began filing out. Michael rushed up to the Dirty Candy girls.

“Hey, I’m Michael,” He said, flipping his hair. “Could I get- Wait-”

The girls walked off. He huffed.

Sierra sat down at the edge of the stage. “Mr. Tomlinson, I’m so sorry for not asking; I just wanted to prove that I belong.”

“As amazing as your performance was,” Mr. Tomlinson said. “My hands are tied, Sierra. Another student has taken your spot, so I’m afraid there’s nothing for me to do.”

Sierra sighed. 

Principal Lessa approached. “Sierra,” she began.

Sierra cringed. 

“I have something to do,” Principal Lessa grinned. “I’m not going down in history as the principal that kicked  _ Sierra Deaton _ out of the music program. You start tomorrow, alright?”

Sierra grinned. “Thank you, Mrs. Lessa.”

“One condition-” Principal Lessa said. “When you win your first Grammy, I expect a thank you.”

“Definitely,” Sierra said with a giggle.

Principal Lessa smiled back, then nodded stiffly and walked off. Sierra jumped down from the stage to hug a grinning Mr. Tomlinson.

“I’m very proud of you, Sierra,” He said. “You shine on stage. Truly shine.”

Mr. Tomlinson hugs her tighter for a split second before patting her shoulder and walking away. 

Crystal stands, waiting. “Dude!”

Sierra grins. “Dude!” She yells back. 

They collide in a hug. 

“When did you start playing with a hologram band?” Crystal asked. 

“Oh, we’re not a band,” Sierra said. “They are. A hologram band.”

Crystal frowned slightly. “Why’re you acting so weird?”

“What? No, I’m not,” Sierra laughed awkwardly.

“O… kay.” Crystal said. “Why’d you keep the cute boys a secret? Especially that guitar player,” She wriggled her eyebrows.

“Crystal, you don’t even like boys,” Sierra laughed.

“I can appreciate attractive boys,” Crystal said. “Spill, where’d you find them?”

“They’re… from- uh. Sweden!” Sierra announced awkwardly. “They’re really good. And I’m back in the music program!” She did some awkward jazz hands.

Crystal frowned. “Are you trying to lie to me?”

Sierra swallowed. “It’s a really long, really crazy story, Crystal-”

“I love crazy,” Crystal said, crossing her arms. “And we’ve got all the time in the world for you to explain what’s so  _ crazy _ you had to  _ lie _ .”

“You-” Sierra huffed. “You wouldn’t believe me, Crystal, okay, so can we just talk about this later?”

“Wow, what faith!” Crystal yelled, throwing her arms up. “See you later, then!”

With that, she stormed off. Sierra cringed. They rarely fought, but when they had, it was big. They’d never lied to each other, not in their nearly 10 years of friendship.

Sierra had messed up. Big time.

She rushed out after Crystal, but some kids in the hallway stopped her. She hurriedly nodded at whatever they were saying, and she pushed forward, trying to find Crystal when Eddie stopped in front of her.

“Hey,” he said. “That was one hell of a presentation, huh?”

Sierra laughed nervously. “You could say that.”

“Much better than when you cried and ran out,” Joy sneered, walking up to Eddie’s side.

“Maybe we should get to science,” Eddie tried. 

“Maybe you’ll be able to learn the science of  _ manners _ ,” Sierra muttered. 

“Oh, wow, what a comeback,” Joy raised an eyebrow.

“ _ Wow _ yourself.”

“Another winner,” Joy flipped her hair, strutting off. Eddie cringed and hurried after her.

* * *

The bell had rung, and Sierra was still shuffling around the halls, trying to find Crystal. She rounded a corner and was immediately bombarded by the boys yelling.

“Sierra!” they cried in sync, lifting Luke up by his legs.

She yelped. “Seriously?! Stop scaring me like that.”

“Well, that’s just on you,” Michael snorted, setting Luke on the ground. “We were already here.”

“This is crazy!” Luke blurted, jumping up and down a little. “The  _ whole _ school saw us!”

“Yeah, it’s kinda freaking me out,” Sierra admitted.

“Oh, good, I’m not the only one with a brain here,” Ashton said, crossing his arms. “This could be a problem, you guys.”

Michael reached around Luke to shove Ashton. “Dude, those girls in the glitter- the cheerleaders or whatever- were definitely looking at us! How could this be bad?”

“And I mean, everyone loved you!” Luke said, gesturing to Sierra. “I knew you’d kill that song.”

Luke seemed to shine, sincerity pouring out of his beautiful blue eyes. Sierra was almost overwhelmed with how  _ genuinely  _ proud he seemed.

“I just feel like there are a lot of unanswered questions,” Ashton mumbled. “There should be a guidebook for this shit.”

“Well, thankfully, everyone thinks you’re holograms,” Sierra sighed. “Except Crystal, but.”

“Wait, did you get back in?” Luke asked. 

“I did,” Sierra admitted. 

“Why do you sound so bummed?” Michael asked. “You should be celebrating, girlie!

“First of all,  _ do not _ call me girlie, and second of all, Crystal knows I lied, so I fucked up,” Sierra sighed.

“Crystal?” Michael asked. “Is that the girl with the pink hair that talked to you yesterday morning?”

Sierra nodded. 

“Why didn’t you just tell her?” Ashton asked.

“Because she’d tell my dad, and they both would think I’ve gone off the deep end,” Sierra groaned. “And I do  _ not _ want to go see that stupid grief therapist again for as long as I’m alive.”

“‘M sorry, Sierra,” Luke murmured.

She waved a hand, “It’s not your fault. I need to get to class.” She walked forward, the guys moving out of her way.

“Tell the sparkly girls I’m single!” Michael yelled after Sierra.

“And that he’s dead!” Ashton yelled with a smirk as Sierra turned the corner. She distantly heard Michael squawk.

“Oh, fuck off, Ashton!”

* * *

A few minutes later, the boys were back in the garage. Luke and Michael watched as Ashton paced in front of them. They followed him back and forth with their eyes.

“What, is he practicing his model strut?” Michael huffed.

“He’s so nervous he’s making me nervous,” Luke mumbled.

“I’m not  _ fucking _ nervous,” Ashton spat, stopping. “I- just- Why?”

“Why what?” Michael scoffed.

“Anything!” Ashton said, throwing his hands up. “Why us? Why are we here? Why Sierra? Why?!”

“Does it matter?” Luke asked sincerely.

“Yeah, dude, we can  _ play  _ again, thanks to Sierra!” Michael cheered. “How are you not down with that?”

“I-” Ashton sighed. “I am. It’s awesome. Who wouldn’t be down with that? But I just feel like there- There’s gotta be a- a why.”

“Dude!” Michael groaned. “Not everything has to have a reason!”

“I say we invite Sierra to join 5SOS!” Luke said, jumping up.

“We never agreed on that pronunciation-” Ashton began.

“Imagine! With Sierra as our lead singer, we’ll be  _ legendary _ .” Luke said with a grin.

“Hey,” Michael complained, standing up. “I’m our lead singer.”

“Dude, Sierra has the voice of an angel. Without her, we’re just elevator music.”

Michael pouted. “Well, you don’t have to be so mean about it, Lukey.”

Ashton was pacing again. 

“Seriously, are you preparing for the runway, dude?” Michael groaned. 

“Sorry, I just-” Ashton sighed frustratedly. “I should go take a walk.”

He walked to the door, attempting to open it. His hand passed right through. Ashton froze.

“Dude, you can just poof out-”

“Don’t tell me how to ghost, Michael!” With a huff, Ashton poofed out.

* * *

As Ashton walked down the street, he heard the sound of a skateboard from behind him just as someone crashed into him, sending him face-first to the pavement. He yelped.

The person who nearly ran him over groaned but hopped up. “Dammit. I dinged my board.”

“Dinged your-” Ashton huffed, standing up. “Dude, you ran me over! You’re lucky-”

Immediately after saying this, Ashton froze. The person that ran into him was a boy and a  _ pretty  _ one at that. Realization dawned on him. A cute boy… nearly ran him over.

“You ran me over,” Ashton murmured. “You’re a ghost, too?”

“Yeah?” The boy replied as if Ashton was dumb. Ashton bristled slightly as the boy peeled off his helmet to reveal long black hair with bright green tips.

Ashton swooned a little.

“I learned the hard way that you don’t skate into traffic,” the boy admitted. “Got hit by a car.”

Ashton barely heard what he said because this boy was even prettier with his hair down, and… yup, Ashton was definitely swooning. On the inside.

“Sorry about smashing into you,” The boy continued, snapping Ashton out of his slight ogling. “I thought you were a lifer, and I’d just pass right through.”

“A- a what?”

“A lifer.” The boy frowned. “It’s what we call living people. You’re new to this, aren’t you?” The boy’s half-smile half-smirk almost made Ashton swoon again.

“Is it that obvious?” He asked.

The boy shrugged one shoulder. “A little. I’m Otto, they/them pronouns.” Otto stuck out… their(?) hand.

Ashton shook it as he replied. “Ashton. And what?”

“I’m not a guy or a girl. I assume you use he/him pronouns, right? Like someone would say, ‘oh, Ashton. He’ll be here soon.’ For me, it’d be ‘ _ they’ll _ be here soon.’”

Ashton blinked, feeling a little guilty that he’d called Otto a boy in his head. “Okay, I think I got it.”

Ashton vaguely noticed that their hands were still clasped, but Otto smiled, and Ashton got distracted. They stared at each other for a moment before Ashton looked away sheepishly and let go of Otto's hand.  


“Well, what brings you to Sydney, Ashton? Sightseeing, maybe?”

Ashton looked back up from his shoes. “I uh,” He blushed slightly. “Was kinda having maybe just a small minor afterlife crisis, so, uh. Just clearing my head. Or something like that. Until you tried to crack it open, of course.”

Otto laughed, throwing their head back. Ashton stared in wonder. He had a reputation of being the “funny kid” and had made people laugh before, but Ashton felt butterflies shoot through his veins as Otto laughed, their eyes scrunched up with how wide they grinned.

“I did bang you up, huh?” Otto said, grinning. “Sorry about that, again.” They said, their expression sheepish. “So, afterlife crisis?”

“Of the small minor variety.”

“Oh, of course.” Otto’s brown eyes sparkled with amusement.

Ashton sighed. “I just keep… Freaking out about- well, everything. I keep wanting to know why, but my friends don’t seem interested in any questions I have.” 

“You know other ghosts? You seemed really surprised by me.”

“They’re my bandmates,” Ashton replied. “We died together.”

Otto winced. “Sounds tragic. Were you in some sort of accident, or…?”

“You could say that? We ate bad hamburgers,” Ashton admitted. He winced. “Sounds kinda stupid, huh?”

“What a coincidence, that is what happened to Mozart!” Otto teased. 

“Why do I actually find that comforting?” 

He and Otto laughed again.

“Hey, could I ask you some more questions?” Ashton asked.

“Sounds like it’s kinda your thing,” Otto replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“No,” Otto shook their head. “It’s cute. C’mon, keep up, cowboy.”

And with that, Otto put their helmet back on and skated off.

“Hey, wait up!”

* * *

When Sierra got home, her dad was shuffling through a bunch of papers on the kitchen counter.

“Hey!”

“Hey, sweetheart,” Her dad said, sounding stressed. 

“What are you looking at?” She asked, leaning over his shoulder.

“Just some music schools,” He replied. “Y’know, if a regular school isn’t working, then maybe-”

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I got back into the music program at  _ my  _ school,” Sierra chuckled.

“Really?” Her dad asked. 

Sierra nodded. “Yup! I performed, and Mrs. Lessa let me back in!” 

Her dad cheered, picking her up and spinning her as she giggled.

“I’m so proud of you, Sierra,” he murmured as he set her down. 

“Thanks, Dad,” She said, grinning. 

“Well, guess we can toss these,” Her dad said, scraping together the pamphlets off the counter.

“Yeah, no need to send me halfway across the world!” She chirped, tapping the top pamphlet- one for “Los Feliz School of the Arts,” advertised as being located in Los Angeles- the United States.

“I’d bring you home for Christmas!” Her dad called as she walked out to the garage.

Outside, she heard music quietly coming from the garage. As she opened the door, she spoke. “Guys, what’d I say about playing alone?”

Luke had the decency to look sheepish, while Michael just flipped his fringe out of his eyes. 

“Sorry, Sierra.” 

“We had the volume on one, calm down,” He huffed. 

She still unplugged both of their guitars. The boys sighed and put them on the stands.

“We’ve actually been waiting for you to get home,” Luke said, excited now.

Michael stood up fully, crossing his arms and smirking like he thought he was hot shit.

Sierra was pretty sure he always thought that, but it seemed fairly exemplified with his facial expression.

“We have some pretty major news, no need to freak out, but-”

“We want you to join 5 Seconds of Summer,” Luke nearly squealed, completely ruining Michael’s tough-guy act.

“Wow, very manly, Lucas,” Michael muttered.

Luke shrank in on himself, wrapping his arms around his stomach. Sierra noticed he did that a lot, but she had only seen him do that in the crop top he was in earlier, and he was now in a sleeveless band tee.

“Oh,” Sierra said, her thoughts being flung back to her epic fuck-up with Crystal.

“Oh?” Luke echoed. “She said ‘oh.’” 

“That’s what you say when you get socks on your birthday,” Michael sneered. “Not when you get invited to join a  _ band _ .”

“Sorry, you guys, but I’m just really worried about Crystal,” Sierra said, cringing at the disappointed look on Luke’s face. “She’s still furious; she hasn’t even texted me back.”

Luke looked down to the floor. 

“Oh,” Michael said. “Well, you wanna join the band?”

“Michael!” Luke hissed. 

“Read the room, asshole!” Sierra snapped.

“What?!” Michael complained. “We need you, you need music, we are practically handing your dream on a silver platter, here!”

“Oh my god, could you be more egotistical?”

“Look,” Michael said, fumbling a paper from his pocket. “Luke and I put this dope melody to this poem of yours-”

Luke gasped. “You said you wrote it!”

“Where did you get that?” Sierra demanded. 

“Definitely not the dream box.”

“Michael!” Sierra and Luke shouted. 

“We can touch stuff now, I saw the chance, and I took it!” Michael defended, jumping onto the piano and raising the paper above his head to avoid Sierra’s clutches.

Considering Michael was a little over 2 meters tall, it wasn’t much of a challenge.

“Dude, boundaries!” Luke yelped.

“Exactly, now  _ give it back! _ ” Sierra huffed from her effort, jumping up to try and grab the paper from Michael.

“No, look.” Michael huffed. “You need to accept the fact that you are  _ crazy fucking talented _ , Sierra! Luke agrees with me!”

Sierra spun around to face the other boy.

“I swear I didn’t know he stole it,” Luke squawked, holding his hands in surrender. “But he is right about that.”

He was doing that thing with his eyes again, and now Sierra was sure he had no idea- because Luke would never think of trying to be flirty when she was still very  _ fucking mad _ . 

“Listen to this-” Michael sang a line from the poem, his natural voice too rough and gravelly to properly pull off a song about her best friend. He ended the line with a few “whoa”s, which Luke echoed.

Sierra definitely preferred Luke’s voice.

“See? Absolutely killer,” Michael said with a smirk as she visibly calmed down, sitting on the edge of the piano.

“I wrote that about Crystal,” Sierra said. “When she helped me with my. Mom stuff.” She huffed at the two of them. “I can’t do this right now. Stay out of my room, alright?”

Luke nodded sagely. Michael just crossed his arms.

“Michael.”

Michael groaned. “Ugh, fine.”

“Just because you’re ghosts doesn’t mean I won’t try and kill you again.”

* * *

“It’s so random, though,” Ashton was venting to Otto. He felt relaxed with Otto, something he’d never really had back in… his time. Otto just makes him feel better, in a way. Listened to.

“When is life not?” Otto replied, grinning.

Ashton laughed, a little helplessly. “I mean, I guess. 25 years stuck in a box, then Sierra plays our CD and bam! We’re ghosts.”

“You’ve mentioned her a few times,” Otto said. “Who’s Sierra?”

“The girl who discovered us,” he explained. “She can see us, too.”

Otto’s eyes widened in surprise, their mouth dropping open. “A Lifer can  _ see  _ you?”

“Freakiest part- she can make other people see us when we play music together,” Ashton said.

“Whoa,” Otto breathed. They shook their head. “I’ve never seen that happen…”

“You see why I’m freaking out a bit?”

“Maybe she’s connected to your unfinished business,” Otto mused. 

“My what?” Ashton was starting to feel a little stupid with how many times he’d asked Otto that same question.

“Oh, right!” Otto smacked their forehead lightly. “Unfinished business. It’s why people become ghosts in the first place. It’s something you needed to do while you were alive but didn’t get to.”

Ashton nodded. “And what happens after you do it?”

“You cross over.”

“And that’s what? Heaven?” He paused, dreading the answer a little. “Hell?”

Otto shrugged. “No one knows.”

Ashton nodded, looking down at the sidewalk. “How do we know what our ‘unfinished business’ is?”

“I don’t know,” Otto admitted. “I haven’t figured mine out; some ghosts never do. And I mean, being a ghost lets me skate basically anywhere, so I’m not in much of a rush.”

“So it’s up to us?” Ashton said. 

“Pretty much, yeah.” Otto sighed. “I wish I had more answers for you, Ash.”

Ashton felt his heart do little backflips at the way Otto said the nickname- like it was something to be treasured and cared for. “I’m just glad you listened,” Ashton said, a little breathless. “My friends haven’t really been willing to. It’s nice to just have someone to talk to.”

“I’ll be your ghost connoisseur if it means I get to talk to  _ you _ ,” Otto said, grinning.

_ That’s flirting, right? They’re flirting with me? Are they? Oh god, I’m bad at this. _

“I’d love that,” Ashton said over the panic in his head. They smiled at each other for a few moments before Otto stood up, putting on their helmet.

“I better get going. See you later, cowboy,” Otto grinned and took off on their skateboard.

“I’m starting to think that’s a reference to how I died and not just a generic term for you!” Ashton yelled after them.

Otto’s laugh echoed. 

Ashton could feel the dorky smile on his face.

He didn’t really care.

* * *

After sitting on the bus bench for a few minutes, he poofed back into the studio, where Michael was humming to himself, and Luke was pouting on the couch.

“Hey, Ash!” Michael said. “Where’ve you been?”

“Oh, just… Around.” Ashton jumped off the piano. “I met another ghost; they answered a lot of questions, actually.” 

“Really? What’d he say?”

“They,” Ashton corrected. “And I think I know why we’re here.”

“Huh?” Luke asked from the couch, frowning instead of pouting now. 

“Oh, they use they/them pronouns,” Ashton said. 

“Did you meet many people, or?” 

“No, just one,” Ashton said. “They said that all ghosts have unfinished business.”

Luke and Michael looked at each other, still a little confused, but Luke shrugged.

“What’s that?” Luke asked.

“Something we didn’t accomplish while we were alive,” Ashton explained. “And once we do it, we can cross over.”

“Why would we wanna do that?” Michael asked, scrunching his nose. 

“We don’t have to. It was just-” Ashton shrugged. “It’s just nice to have some answers.”

“Well, we’re fine here,” Michael replied. “All we need to do is get Sierra to sing with us.”

“And you  _ royally  _ fucked that up!” Luke scoffed.

Michael crossed his arms. “No, I did not!”

At Ashton’s confused frown, Luke turned to Ashton. “He stole one of Sierra’s poems.”

“Michael,” Ashton groaned.

“Fuck off! She’s talented, like, really talented, you guys!”

“Yeah, we knew that already,” Luke said. “You’re the one that had to take the poem to know that.”

Michael squawked. “Hey, you agreed with me!”

“I thought it was  _ your  _ writing, asshole!” Luke yelped. “You tricked me!”

“Semantics, you still make these stupid goo-goo eyes at her,” Michael said, waving his hand. “And Sierra didn’t take it back, so!”

He shoved the paper at Ashton. “We wrote without you. Drumming is super 90’s, man.”

“Y’know what else is ‘so 90s’? Being an asshole. Get woke, Mikey,” Ashton huffed, pushing the paper back to Michael.

Michael blinked. “What?”

“A word I learned from my new ghost friend,” Ashton admitted.

“Cool,” Luke said. “What does it mean?”

“No idea,” Ashton said.

* * *

As Sierra was walking back to the house, she spotted Crystal by her front window.

“Crystal?!”

“Hey,” Crystal said stiffly.

“What are you doing here? I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Sierra said.

“Obviously not  _ everywhere _ .”

“I’ve been texting you all day; you haven’t texted me back,” Sierra replied.

“Did you not get the ‘I am not looking’ meme?” Crystal asked. “I thought it said everything.”

Sierra sighed. “I’m really sorry for not telling you about the band, Crystal, but you need to know that you’ve done so much for me. I couldn’t have gotten through this year without you.”

“Then why was it three  _ strangers _ that got you back into music?” Crystal snapped. “Clearly, I’m not that important.” She began to walk away.

“They’re ghosts!” Sierra blurted. 

Crystal froze. “What?”

“The band. They’re ghosts, not holograms. Only I can see them, but when we play, other people can see them,” Sierra explained.

Crystal narrowed her eyes for a moment, then pulled out her phone. “You’re seeing things, Sierra.”

“Who are you texting?” 

“Your dad. He said to text if I was worried about you,” Crystal replied. 

“Crystal,” Sierra complained. She thought back to the poem Michael had thieved and huffed. “I can prove it to you!”

Crystal stopped tapping on her screen. “Explain.”

“Give me half an hour,” Sierra said. “Meet me in the garage, and I can  _ prove  _ it to you.”

Crystal put her phone away. She crossed her arms and was silent for a moment. “Fine. 30 minutes, that’s it.”

Sierra rushed forward and hugged her. “30 minutes.”

* * *

Sierra busted through the doors of the garage, out of breath. “Guys!”

“Sierra, what-”

“Michael!” She said. “How’s the song you made to my poem coming along?”

“I mean, it’s getting there, but-”

“Great!” Sierra exclaimed. “Could you finish it in 30 minutes?”

“Why 30 minutes?” Luke asked from the couch.

“Crystal agreed to hear me out about you guys,” Sierra said, pulling out her keyboard. “We agreed on 30 minutes, so that’s what we’ve got.”

The boys jumped up.

“So you’re joining the band?” Michael asked excitedly.

“Help me write the song, then I’ll think about it.”

Ashton shuffled over to sit closer to everyone. “Uh, Sierra, I’ve got a question,” He said, a little awkward. “Are you sure this song’s about Crystal, because-” He paused, then just pointed to a lyric on the page: “ _ You know who I’m liking / way before I like them / even though you like girls.” _

“Yeah, it’s about Crystal,” Sierra replied carefully. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, no, it’s just-” Ashton stuttered.

“Oh, shit,” Sierra groaned. “I keep forgetting, you guys are 90s kids. People are cool with being LGBT+.”

“‘LGBT-plus’?” Ashton echoed.

“It’s an acronym for everyone who isn’t cis or straight,” Sierra replied. “It stands for ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and more,’ essentially.”

“So, people are… okay with people being that?” Ashton asked.

“Mostly, yeah,” Sierra said. “There’s still some bigots, but.” She shrugged.

Ashton looked down at the paper with a small smile. “That’s. That’s really cool.”

“It is,” Sierra said. “I mean, I’m bi, so it’s really nice that I’m alive when I am.”

Ashton’s head shot up. “Oh! I’m. I am. Bi. As well.”

Sierra grinned at Ashton’s awkward stream of words. “Awesome.”

* * *

Half an hour later, and they had something not half bad. At least, by Sierra’s standards. 

A solid knock resounded on the door just as the guys finished shuffling the instruments and mic stands around. Luke was set up on the couch, a mic stand placed so he could perch on the edge of the arm. Michael was just in front of the grand piano, and Ashton was in the only place his drum kit would fit- right underneath the loft. 

Sierra pushed open the doors to reveal Crystal.

“Thank you for coming,” Sierra said. “The song’s not perfect, but whatcha gonna do?”

Crystal shook her head, crossing her arms. “No, if I’m gonna hear a song by you and your ‘imaginary ghost band,’” - she used air quotes- “Then it’d better be perfect. Get back to work, you three,” she pointed vaguely behind Sierra, completely missing all of the boys. Michael snorted, Ashton smiled, and Luke giggled.

“They’re not there,” Sierra said, smiling at her friend’s antics.

“Oh. I knew that,” Crystal huffed, moving to stand in the center of the garage.

“Oh, she might want to sit down,” Michael said, gesturing with his guitar and only narrowly missing Crystal’s body.

“Here,” Sierra said, moving a chair and sitting Crystal down in it. “Michael needs some space to jam, wouldn’t want him passing through you the whole time.”

“Wow, you’re really living in this, aren’t you,” Crystal snorted as Sierra took her place behind the keys.

“The guys took a poem I wrote about you and put it to music,” Sierra said. “It’s called ‘Flying Solo.’” 

“Aww,” Crystal said, smiling. “I wish I didn’t have to talk to your dad after this.”

Sierra shook her head, half fond and half nervous. “Enjoy, Crystal.”

And with that, Sierra began the first bit- a repeating line on a loop pad. 

Seeing the shock on Crystal’s face as the guys appeared was quite amusing to Sierra. 

As the slow bridge came around, Crystal stood up to stick her hand through Michael’s shoulder. 

“Weird, right?” Michael said, smirking.

“They’re ghosts, alright,” Crystal said. 

“We prefer ‘musician spirits,’” Michael snarked. 

“No, we don’t,” Ashton said from his kit. 

“Sierra?” Luke asked from the couch. 

She turned to see his big blue eyes staring at her.  _ Doing the thing again. _

“Does this mean you’ll join our band?” Luke asked hopefully.

Sierra opened her mouth, knowing she would say yes because of Luke’s stupid puppy eyes when Crystal threw her arm around Sierra’s shoulders.

“I think you’re joining  _ her _ band, pretty boy,” Crystal said, smirking.

Luke’s eyes widened slightly as the bridge picked up, leading back into the song.

Sierra shrugged. “What she said.”

Luke grinned as they dived back into the song for one last chorus. 

As the song ended, Crystal threw her arms around Sierra.

“You believe me now?” Sierra whispered.

“Well, if you’re crazy, then I guess we both are.”


	4. Episode Four - Tomorrow Never Dies / Lost Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Try your best to change your fate / you can just enjoy the ride / the sun will rise / the moon will fall / tomorrow never dies." - "Tomorrow Never Dies"  
> "I'm coming because I need to find you / is anybody there who can rescue / somebody like me / 'cause I'm just waiting / for somebody like you / somebody like you / without you I'm a lost boy." - "Lost Boy"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! Just in time for me, haha!
> 
> I've also been busy making myself cry with the writing of episode six, so I've literally put my tears into that chapter XD
> 
> Possible tw or cws:  
> // mentions of trauma/therapy. The guys see Calum this chapter, and he's... Less than okay.  
> // discussion of Ashton's anxiety.
> 
> Enjoy!

Sierra was laying out in the studio, entirely planning on a lazy Saturday after the events of the week, when the boys stumbled in.

"Sierra!" Luke cheered, grinning. "Perfect timing, we were just gonna do an improv jam session, do you wanna join?"

"'Improv jam'?" Sierra echoed.

Ashton pulled out a pair of sticks, settling down at the coffee table. "Like, improvising music," Ashton said. "We do it a lot when we're trying to come up with something, but we don't have any ideas."

Michael grabbed his acoustic and sprawled on the couch. "Ash is the best at it."

Ashton snorted. "You guys are just bad at it."

Sierra hummed. "Sounds fun. I've got some lyrics to try out," She flipped to a page in her song book titled "I Got the Music." "Would you guys mind that?"

Luke grinned. "Sounds great."

"Gimme the key!" Michael cheered.

She hums out the melody a couple of times, and Michael begins strumming out a chord progression. Luke follows up with a fun bassline, and Ashton immediately begins tapping out a quick drum beat.

They jam out for a little while, Luke jumping in to compliment Sierra with some harmonies that make her heart squeeze in her chest, and Ashton pulling out an off-the-cuff rap verse that makes them all giggle.

They flawlessly execute an upward key change for a couple more rounds of the chorus Sierra had written, and then they dissolve into laughs.

"That was fun," Sierra admitted. 

"Yeah, we should definitely do that more," Luke said. 

"Alright!" Ashton said, clicking his sticks together and settling behind the kit. "Writing time, as we promised!"

The other three nodded, scrambling to set up their usual rehearsal set-up, with Luke and Michael hooked up to their respective amps and Sierra with her piano across from Ashton. Luke shuffled through Michael's music trunk, which held the guitar equipment. Out of it, he pulled his song book, a battered old thing with a piece of paper sticking out. Luke frowned, reading off the name from the top of the page. "Greenli- ugh, Mikey, stop putting your weird songs about sex in my notebook!"

"It's not as blatant as the other ones!"

Luke rolled his eyes, pulling the paper out and putting it into Michael's guitar case. He stood up, handing his notebook to Sierra. She took it delicately, knowing how important it was to him.

"Mikey and I went through and dog-eared all the ones we think you'd kill," Luke said proudly.

Sierra flipped through it, pausing on a page that was titled "Broken Home." She caught a glimpse of a lyric (there was life / there was love / like a light / and it's fading out), and she immediately flipped to a page that had the corner flipped over. It was titled "English Love Affair," and she frowned. "What's this?" 

Michael and Luke peered over her to the page. Michael smirked.

"That's the one song that Lukey actually liked," Michael sneered.

"It's catchy," Luke defended. "I can't remember how it goes, though, maybe something like-"

He strummed out a riff on his bass, the exact tune of Tommy Hood's "English Love Affair."

"So… you want to sample a song?" Sierra asked.

"Huh?" Luke asked.

"The bass line you played," Sierra said. "It's from 'English Love Affair' by Tommy Hood. One of his most popular songs, probably."

"Who's Tommy Hood?" Ashton asked, standing from his kit.

"He was a footballer in like, Brazil," Sierra replied. "He's been doing music after he retired, and it's all pretty good."

"I don't even know who that is," Michael huffed. 

"Maybe you mixed them up?" Ashton offered helpfully.

"I don't just _mix up_ songs," Sierra scoffed. "His daughter and I used to be friends, I think I would-" She sighed. "Here."

She pulled out her laptop, opening up Tommy Hood's Spotify profile. "This is him."

They all lean in to look at him. Michael immediately recoiled in a shocked disgust, while Ashton and Luke's eyes widened.

"What?"

Michael set his guitar down, then poofed out, to the protest of the other boys.

"Did I do something?" Sierra asked nervously.

"No," Luke said, shaking his head. "That's-"

"That's Calum!" Michael shouted as he reappeared. 

"I just said-"

"Okay, so he changed it," Michael huffed. "That's _Calum_."

"He was our other guitarist," Ashton said. "And our best friend."

"And he's a fucking _stealer_ now!" Michael said, getting dangerously close to screaming. "He goes off and becomes a successful footballer _and_ musician?!"

"He wouldn't just _steal_ our songs, Mikey," Luke said, a little desperate. He turned to Sierra. "What's some of his other songs?"

"Uh… 'Don't Stop?'" 

Luke looked a little defeated. "What else?"

"Amnesia," Sierra continued. "Babylon, Wildflower, Beside You, Out of My Limit, Mrs. All-American?"

"He and Luke wrote 'Don't Stop,' 'Beside You,' and 'Out of My Limit,'" Michael said with a scowl. "I helped him write 'Mrs. All-American.'"

"Okay, so it's just a few," Luke said. 

"A 'few' is still more than he should've used!" Michael shouted. "Which is none!"

"Sierra," Ashton said. "Where does he live now?"

Sierra sighed. "Seven Shillings Beach," She replied reluctantly.

"Seven sh- what?!" Michael was definitely screaming now. "He got _rich_ off our music-"

"And football," Luke interjected.

"Shut _up_ , Luke!" Michael yelled. "He got _rich_ and never credited us?"

Sierra shrugged helplessly. 

"Michael, it's not about the money," Ashton said placatingly.

"It’s a little about the money!" Michael yelled back. "Ash, your parents would have kept their _house_ if Calum had said anything about us!"

"Did he?" Luke asked Sierra. "You said you knew his daughter, right?"

Sierra shrugged helplessly. "We all talked a lot about music, but he never mentioned being in a band-"

Michael yelled wordlessly. "I'm gonna go fucking haunt him."

"Michael, no-"

Michael disappeared, and Ashton and Luke followed after him with identical helpless looks to Sierra.

She cursed. _Did I just release an angry trio of ghosts into the world?_

She jumped up from her piano bench and immediately began her walk over to the Hood residence.

* * *

As Luke, Ashton, and Michael appear in Calum's giant home, the man himself strolls through the front door. He's wearing a pair of dorky neon green glasses, but he takes them off to look at them fondly as he enters.

"Since when does Calum wear _glasses_?" Luke asked incredulously.

"He looks even older in person," Michael grumbled, his anger slowly seeping out of him upon seeing his friend. Ashton knew that Michael and Calum had been the closest of the four, with Luke being the second closest with both of them. Even though he thought he was an outsider in their band- the out-of-place dad friend at _best-_ Ashton still felt a little sad upon seeing Calum, flooded with memories and nostalgia for a time that was only a couple of days ago to him.

"Joy?!" Calum called out. 

"I'm in the den!" A young girl's voice called out. 

"Alright, I'm going to meditate, sweetie!" Calum replied, quickly walking up the stairs.

"He looks a lot buffer than his pictures, right?" Ashton asked.

"Oh, yeah, his arms have got to be the size of my thighs," Michael replied.

The boys followed Calum up the stairs to a music studio. Calum immediately goes to a small, shrine-looking set up in the back corner. It consists of a simple table with a scented candle and a single box of matches on it, with a small cushion in front of the table. A blood-red guitar hangs on the wall above this set-up, with a silver plaque engraved with something that looks similar to Michael's near-illegible chicken scratch he calls handwriting. Calum sets the glasses on the table before pulling out a match from the box and lighting the candle. He extinguishes and tosses the match and then takes a seat in front of the table.

He grins at the candle and the guitar, putting on the glasses as if he's showing them off. "Look what I found," he said to no one.

"You look fucking ridiculous," Michael snarked.

Calum laughed, smiling at the red guitar. "Oh, yeah, I know."

The boys freeze. 

"Did he just-" Luke whispered.

Calum pulled off the glasses. "I found them in the little market I went to today. The vendor looked at me like I was crazy, but I mean, who doesn't? I had to buy them, though. They look exactly like the ones Luke used to wear in- what, year eight?" He chuckled softly. "Figured I should have at least something that reminds me of him before his birthday next week."

Luke shrinks into himself.

"They aren't very… _him_ ," Calum admits. "But I can't seem to find anything in the right shade of blue for the life of me."

"You always were a perfectionist," Ashton said. 

Calum smiled down at the candle. "You'd be so proud, Ash," He said to the candle. "I have a real therapist again. She's the one making me do this stuff, though, so Mikey'd hate her." The guys exchanged glances, trying to figure out what to do.

Calum sighed, fiddling with the glasses. "She keeps telling me that I need to think of myself as 'traumatized' rather than crazy, but I'm not sure that's right." He scoffed at himself. "I mean, can you really say I'm not crazy when I was seeing you guys for _years_ after you died? When I still hear you guys in my head?"

Michael swallowed- looking like he was on the verge of either bursting into tears or cussing someone out- and then started rifling through Calum's CD collection. "No more feelings talk," he grumbled. He pulled out a worn copy of the 5 Seconds of Summer demo, putting it in and pressing play. Calum spun around as the opening of "Unpredictable" played.

"Oh," he murmured. "Interactive hallucinations. That's new."

He got up and turned off the player. Michael huffed and pointedly turned it back on.

Calum laughed. "Real mature, as always, guys."

Michael froze, eyes wide, as Calum turned off the player, put out the candle, and exited the studio.

"What the fuck was that?"

* * *

Just as Sierra was attempting to make it past the Hood's security fence, the boys appeared next to her.

"There you are!" She huffed, out of breath. 

"Sierra?" Luke asked. "Why are you here?"

"Trying to stop you guys from haunting your old friend," Sierra said, panting.

"Well, that was unnecessary," Michael sneered.

They began to walk back to Sierra's house, Luke sympathetically wincing at Sierra's heavy breathing.

"So, what happened?"

"He thinks he's crazy," Luke murmured.

Sierra frowned, looking at Ashton.

"He credited us on our songs," Ashton said. "A lot have gone platinum, too. We saw them at his house. It was really cool, actually. But, we also learned that he used to hallucinate us when we first died, and he has a therapist."

Sierra blinked. "Jesus," she said, grimacing sympathetically.

"Not only that!" Michael huffed angrily. "He can hear us!"

"What?!" 

"Yeah, he heard us when we talked!" Michael continued, but there was a strange tension in his voice that Sierra couldn't place. "But he just thinks we're _fucking hallucinations_!" 

"He had a shrine to us, too," Luke said, much quieter than Michael. "We thought he just stole our songs."

"But no!" Michael yelled again, that strange tension in his voice. "He _fucking_ misses us, and he's _traumatized_ because of us- because of _me!_ " His voice breaks, and he sobs. 

Sierra gasps a little. She's never seen Michael this emotional.

They all stop walking, and Ashton and Luke wrap Michael in a hug. Her heart aches a little, and she's never wished to be able to touch the boys more.

The four of them stand like that until Michael sniffs, shoving the other boys off him. "Alright, I'm done with affection, stop it."

Luke and Ashton laughed, and Luke instead clambered onto Michael's back.

"Luke, what the fuck?!"

"I'm tired, carry me!"

Sierra giggled as she watched Luke cling to Michael's back, sure that Luke wasn't really tired, but just wanted to keep contact with Michael.

The four of them walked back like that, with Luke and Ashton joking with Michael, all of them adamantly _not_ talking about Calum or Michael's breakdown.

* * *

The next Monday, she strolled into school, her headphones blasting music as she hummed along and danced a little.

As she opened her locker, Crystal leaned against the one next to her. 

"Hey, Crystal!" Sierra said with a grin, entirely too loud. 

Crystal laughed. Sierra frowned, taking out her headphones and stopping the music. "What?"

Crystal shook her head with a grin. "You straight-up shouted that at me."

Sierra cringed, exchanging her algebra books for her lunch. "Sorry."

"No, it's nice to see you back to your happy, weirdo self," Crystal said, still smiling. "How's the band? Still hot, still talented?" She looked around, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Still dead?"

"Amazing," Sierra said, closing her locker. "Luke and I spent the whole weekend writing. Do you wanna hear some of them?"

"Duh!" Crystal said. 

Sierra grinned and pulled Crystal along to the empty music room.

"So the _whole_ weekend, huh?" Crystal asked as they walked. "Just you and Luke writing?"

"The guys helped, too," Sierra replied. "But it _was_ mostly me and Luke. It felt like the words were flowing through me, just like how it felt to write with Mom."

Sierra set her lunch down next to the piano bench, and Crystal stood next to the open cover.

Sierra pushed open the key cover. "This is the first one we finished. The chorus is honestly my favorite part, here-" She played her piano part of "The Only Reason," singing a bit of the chorus.

"Michael helped us write the verses, so the melody is a bit low for me," Sierra admitted. "Luke had to sing his parts whenever we went through it."

She hummed, thinking back to the various snippets they had written over the weekend, trying to remember the other song they had finished. "Oh! And then, we almost finished this one-" She played the piano part of "Broken Pieces," singing a bit of the chorus again. Once she finished, she grinned at Crystal. "Luke agreed to have a solo bit on this one, and I cannot wait for us to finish it because his voice is _gorgeous._ "

Crystal smiled knowingly. "I'm so happy you're writing again," She said.

"Me too," Sierra replied, closing the piano cover. "Luke is an awesome writing partner. I mean, Michael and Ash are great writers, too, but-" She sighed. "I dunno, I feel like Luke- gets, me, y'know?"

"You know what else I know?" Crystal said, smirking.

Sierra frowned.

"You have a crush, and his name is Luke!"

"What?" Sierra shook her head. "No, he's a ghost, Crys."

"A cute ghost, no?" Crystal said. "Make all the girl ghosts go," She made a strange noise and made a clawing motion with her hand.

Sierra shook her head. "Stop quoting old Tumblr memes at me."

"I'm serious, though," Crystal continued. "He likes you, and you like him."

Sierra groaned. "Okay. Maybe I have a little crush on him."

"Yes!" Crystal said. "It was the crop top, wasn't it."

Sierra felt her cheeks flush.

"Ha! Knew it."

Sierra shook her head as if trying to shake the blush off her face physically. "Whatever."

"Hey," Crystal murmured. "Be careful, alright? He is technically just air."

"Cute air," She mumbled. 

Crystal snorted. "I just don't want you getting hurt, okay?"

Sierra smiled. "Thanks, Crys."

"Although, everyone is pretty convinced- myself included- that you two have some great chemistry," Crystal continued. "Everyone's asking when you're gonna play again."

Sierra laughed. "We don't really have anything planned," she said. "We're just writing as much as we can for now."

Crystal smirked. "Well, lucky for you, your PR team is very efficient," She began rifling through her bag.

"Crystal," Sierra said, a warning tone in her voice. "What did you do?"

Crystal pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to her. "You guys are performing at the dance tomorrow!"

"There's a dance?" Sierra asked. 

Crystal shrugged. "Some Valentine's day thing," She said, shrugging. "I posted it on Instagram, people are really excited."

Sierra shook her head, handing Crystal back the paper. "Uh-uh. Absolutely not."

"Too late," Crystal said, shrugging. "You already got 200 likes the last time I checked." And with that, she strolled off. 

"Wait, Crystal-"

* * *

"A school dance?" Luke asked as Sierra watered the plants behind her piano.

"Not exactly the Opera House," Michael grumbled. 

Luke jabbed him in the side. "Well, we're not exactly _alive_ , asshole, so maybe show a _little_ more enthusiasm."

Sierra laughed. "I wasn't sure about it at first, either," She admitted. "But it's a good way to get exposure. If we get viral somehow, we can reach more people."

"What's 'viral'?" Luke asked. "I don't want to be a disease."

Sierra giggled. "It's like, being super popular on the internet. It's usually how bands get big nowadays."

Luke hummed.

"We just need to play whenever, wherever we can," Sierra continued, setting down her watering can. "It's the best way to build up a following."

"Work our way up," Luke said. "Just like 5 Seconds of Summer did, Mikey."

Michael huffed. "Fine. If a school dance is what we play now, then it'll be the best goddamn school dance performance those kids have ever seen in their lives."

Sierra laughed.

"First, school dances," Luke said, knowing he was close to getting Michael excited about it. "Then clubs, then albums and world tours-"

"Then rock 'n roll hall of fame!" Michael said, full-on grinning now.

Luke grinned back. "But! One of us isn't there," Michael continued, in full-on scheming mode now. "Because we had a falling out in 2032."

"My money's on you," Luke replied. 

Michael shook his head. "Nah, it'd definitely be you or Sierra. You're the only ones with the chops to make it as a solo artist."

Luke blushed. "If we're going off who'd go be a solo artist, it could only be Sierra," he said, slightly defensively.

"Oh-" Michael said. "Imagine, we all get into the hall of fame, but we're split up into two duos- me and Ash, then you two."

Luke's blush seemed to darken, and Sierra could feel her face burning, too. 

"As unlikely as that last half of your plan is, Mikey, I'm glad you two are excited about it," Sierra said, attempting to push down the blush on her cheeks. I know it's not super high-profile, but the whole school's gonna be there, and I was worried."

"We won't let you down," Luke said, his blue eyes earnest and his cheeks still a little pink. "I promise."

Mikey clapped a couple of times. "What are we waiting for? Let's get rehearsing!"

"W- we can't start without Ash," Luke mumbled, stuttering a bit.

"Where is he, anyway?"

* * *

"This is my favorite skate spot in Sydney," Otto explained as they strolled up the steps of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Ashton raised his eyebrows.

"A museum?" He asked incredulously.

Otto grinned. "It's not like security can see me."

Ashton chuckled. "I suppose you're right."

He looked around in wonder. When he was little, he visited the museum with his parents and siblings, but it all looked so _different._ It all felt so crowded, full of bustling traffic and people and-

"C'mon," Otto sighed, grabbing Ashton's hand and pulling him through the closed door. Ashton yelped, but Otto just grinned and dragged him through swaths of people to a door reading "CLOSED FOR INSTALLATION."

"I'm beginning to think you just like breaking the rules," Ashton grumbled as they stumbled into the closed room. 

Otto gasped jokingly, placing a hand on their chest. "Well, why _ever_ would you say that?" Their offended look quickly gave way to a grin. With that, they skated off, leaving Ashton to amble behind them. They stopped by a large stone bench.

"Hey, Ash, could you move that? I wanna jump it," Otto said with a grin.

Ashton giggled. "I can barely move small objects; there's no way I'll be able to move that."

Otto frowned in confusion before giggling slightly. "Ghosts can move anything with enough practice." They bounded over to Ashton. "All you need to do is focus on putting all of your energy in your hands."

"That sounds like something my mom's yoga instructor would say," Ashton replied. 

Otto snorted. "Yeah, it does, but it's true."

Ashton sighed. "I don't know how good I'd be at that."

"What, focusing?" Otto asked. Ashton nodded glumly. "Is it because of your anxiety?" Otto asked, tilting their head.

"My- I don't- what?" Ashton stuttered out.

"It's okay, Ash," Otto replied. "Plenty of people struggle with anxiety, whether they need a diagnosis or not."

Ashton sighed. "I've always been… Kind of a. Nervous person. Dying certainly didn't help. I've always had to be responsible- I practically _raised_ my younger siblings, and I have to keep my band in check and-"

Otto set a hand on Ashton's shoulder. " _Ash_. You don't owe me an excuse. It's okay to be nervous or afraid. Just try, alright?"

Ashton looked at Otto, who smiled softly back at him. Their brown eyes twinkled with honesty and kindness, and Ashton felt his heart melt a little at their pep talk. He took a deep breath. "Alright," he repeated. He earned a grin from Otto.

With a few deep breaths, Ashton attempted to do as Otto instructed, "focusing" his "energy" into his hands- whatever that meant- and tried to lift the bench. 

He struggled for a moment before his hands simply floated up through the bench. Otto giggled, and Ashton smiled at their giggle.

"Guess I have to do ghost push-ups, huh?" Ashton said.

"Nah, you just need some practice. Here, do it with me," Otto said. They placed his hands back on the bench, covering his with their own. "Lift on three. One, two, three!"

Ignoring his racing heart from the contact, Ashton lifted the bench with Otto. 

"There you go!" Otto said.

"Move, or I _will_ drop it," Ashton warned.

Otto giggled but heeded Ashton's warning. They shifted the bench to be across from a large box. Once they set it down, Otto quickly made their way to the other side of the box.

Otto skillfully jumped from the box onto the opposite side of the bench with a strange sort of grungy grace that Ashton kind of adored.

 _Jesus, if the guys could hear my thoughts, I'd be getting blasted for how fucking_ lame _I am._

"Well, that was fun," Otto said as they collapsed onto the bench. Ashton nodded a bit. He was still standing.

"All that stuff you said earlier," Otto said. "About the whole 'being responsible' thing? Is that why you're so uptight?"

"I'm not-" Ashton sighed. "Okay, I'm a little uptight."

Otto giggled. "Is that why you're a drummer, then? So you could get all loose or whatever?"

"I actually told someone in Year Four that I could drum," Ashton replied, sitting next to Otto. "Which, I couldn't. But he wanted to make a band, and we were friends, so I begged my step-dad to teach me after school that day. I didn't think much of it, but after that kid stopped being so interested in a band, I kept drumming." Ashton shrugged. "I just fell in love with it, I guess. The stress-relieving is just a bonus. I used to play when my parents started fighting, just so-" Ashton cut himself off. "That's not a fun story, though."

"You know what makes _me_ feel better?" Otto asked, nudging him. 

"What?"

"Screaming." 

" _What?_ " 

"Screaming," Otto repeated with a shrug. "It's fun. Especially when we're in a big ol' empty room."

Ashton raised an eyebrow as they stood up. "I don't-"

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Otto replied. "But you seem stressed out, and it's not like there are any drums here, right?"

Ashton looked at them skeptically. Otto grinned and stood up before screaming into the empty room. Their voice echoed off the walls. 

Ashton blinked. "I don't know."

Otto sighed and pulled him up by his arms. "Just try it, okay?"

Ashton "screamed," more of him saying the word "ah" than anything. 

Otto snorted. "Dude, c'mon. Scream like you mean it!"

Ashton frowned in frustration at himself. _Can't even do this_ one _thing_ _right, you're so stu-_

His thoughts were cut off by Otto screaming, nearly in his face. He awkwardly copied them, screaming a little louder this time.

"You got it, come on!"

Together, they screamed in unison, Otto jumping up and down in excitement.

"Nice job, cowboy!" Otto said. "You feel any better?"

Ashton nodded, panting a bit. "Yeah, actually. Thanks, Otto."

Otto just grinned, looking a bit shy for the first time.

* * *

By the time Ashton arrived back at the studio, the others were practicing.

"Hey, guys," Ashton said.

"Dude, where have you been?" Michael demanded.

"Um, around," Ashton replied a little defensively.

"We need to practice, bro! Get on the kit!" Michael barked. Sierra rolled her eyes, and Luke giggled.

"For what?" Ashton asked.

Before anyone could respond, Crystal slipped through the propped-open door of the studio with a flourishing gesture. "Your PR team has arrived!"

Sierra smiled. "Hey, Crys, any-"

"It's 'Miss Leigh,' to you," Crystal interrupted haughtily.

Sierra laughed. "Sorry, _Miss Leigh_ , do you have any updates on the dance yet?" 

"No," Crystal sighed, standing in front of Sierra's keyboard. "But, I'm still here because I'm so ready to see you guys perform again."

Ashton scrunched his nose. "We're playing a _school dance_?"

"Hey, don't be a buzzkill," Michael replied, sitting in one of the armchairs. 

"Sierra said it could make us go _viral_ ," Luke said, whispering "viral" like it was a conspiracy. 

"Like a disease?" 

"No, like, internet-famous!" Luke replied. "Sierra said that's how bands get famous, now."

"C'mon, Ash, get with the times, old man," Sierra said teasingly.

Ashton huffed. "Great. They got you hooked on the dad jokes, too."

"Huh?" Crystal asked.

Sierra jumped a little, remembering that Crystal couldn't hear anything the guys were saying. "Oh, sorry, Crys, the guys are here."

"What?" Crystal said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Sierra shrugged. "We're gonna rehearse soon if you want to stick around."

"Sierra!" A shout came from outside the studio before Crystal could reply. Sure enough, Lauren burst through the doors, a can and a picture in hand.

"What are you doing, Lauren?"

"You remember those orbs from Dad's photos?" Lauren thrust the picture at her.

"Did you keep them?"

"Pictures? Yes."

"Why?" Sierra asked.

"Because they're _ghosts_ , Si!" Lauren exclaimed. She waved the can- a plastic thing with a flip-top lid. "Never fear, it is my job as the woman of the house to protect you."

Sierra raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that be me?"

"Fine, I am the _paranormal expert_ of the house," Lauren said. She wiped a fake tear dramatically. "It is the burden I must bear."

"What's in the shaker, then?" Sierra asked, putting the picture on the coffee table behind her.

"Salt. I found online that salt can burn out the souls of ghosts, effectively banishing their spirits to Heaven- or Hell," Lauren opened the cap with a flourish. The guys looked a little panicked, but Sierra doubted that _Supernatural_ 's lore was accurate to actual ghosts. Lauren spun and shook the salt in Michael's direction.

He flinched and screamed for a split second before looking at himself.

"Oh. I'm fine."

Sierra looked at Crystal and coughed, jabbing her head at Lauren, who was still vigorously shaking the salt in random spots. 

"Hey, Laur, I'm getting a snack," Crystal said with a smile. "Salt me a path to the kitchen?"

Lauren nodded sagely as if accepting a daunting task and proceeded to guide Crystal out of the studio, shaking the salt in front of her as she went. 

"Can we practice now?" Michael asked impatiently.

"Yeah!" Sierra replied. "Let's go, boys!"

* * *

After Sierra had headed off to bed, Michael and Luke cornered Ashton.

"So, Ash," Michael said with a smirk.

Ashton blinked. "What?"

"Where were you before rehearsal?" Michael asked, sounding innocent, but Ashton saw straight through his bullshit.

Ashton felt blood rush to his cheeks. "Nowhere," he replied quickly.

"You sure?" Michael drawled teasingly. "You weren't with your new _ghost friend_?"

Ashton felt his cheeks burn more. "Shut up, Mikey," He snapped.

"You were!" Luke crowed. "C'mon, tell us! Tell us!"

Ashton huffed. "There's nothing to tell!"

"Uh-huh, tell that to your face," Michael sneered. "C'mon, spill."

Ashton groaned. "Ugh, fine!"

Luke cheered.

"Their name is Otto," Ashton began.

"They fine?"

"Michael!" Ashton scolded.

"What? It's a genuine question," Michael shrugged.

Ashton groaned. "Okay, yes, they're cute."

Michael smirked.

"They've been really cool," Ashton continued. "They've been teaching me about ghost-stuff, like. Did you guys know that we can pick up anything?"

"No, we can't," Luke replied. "We've tried that already."

Ashton shook his head, standing up and lifting the potted plant off the coffee table. "No, anything."

Michael and Luke stared at him in amazement. 

"Whoa," Michael said.

Ashton set the plant back down. "Like I said, Otto keeps teaching me cool ghost powers and weird recent slang."

"Like?" Luke asked.

"Apparently, 'lit' means cool," Ashton said. "And a lot of people use 'oof' to reply to something that's not good or sad."

"Huh?" Luke asked.

"Like, if someone said, 'I have a drinking problem,' a teen today might just reply 'oof.'"

Michael shot up from being slumped in his chair. "Wait, Ash."

Ashton raised an eyebrow.

"You said Otto's been teaching you about ghost powers, right?"

"Yeah…" Ashton replied.

"You think Otto has a few more tricks up their sleeve?"

* * *

The next day- also known as the day of the dance- Ashton brought Luke and Michael along to his and Otto's usual meeting spot.

Otto skated up to them, a slightly confused grin on their face. "Hey, Ash."

"Hey," Ashton replied, sounding disgustingly fond, even to his own ears. Michael coughed pointedly from behind him. "Oh, sorry, these are my band members. Luke and Michael."

He pointed to them respectively, and the confused look disappeared from Otto's face. Luke smiled and waved shyly, while Michael nodded, his arms crossed in an attempt to be intimidating.

"Dope," Otto replied. "I'm Otto; they/them pronouns."

Luke and Michael nodded. "Ash told us," Luke replied. "He talks about you a lot."

Otto grinned, looking pleased. "He does, does he?"

Ashton blushed, looking at the ground.

"He also said that you'd be able to teach us ghost tricks," Michael grumbled.

Otto nodded. They surveyed the park before settling on a couple of police officers on mopeds ticketing two skateboarders. "Watch this," they said with a grin. They stuck out a hand, and the alarms of the mopeds went off. 

The police officers frantically attempted to silence the alarms, allowing the two skateboarding teens to escape. As soon as they had skated off, Otto gestured slightly, and the alarms stopped. 

"Whoa, cool," Luke whispered in awe.

Otto grinned.

"Yeah, we were thinking a little bigger," Michael replied gruffly.

Otto tilted their head.

"Our old bandmate stole songs from us," Michael continued. "We want to talk to him face to face."

"No, he didn't," Luke said absently, watching the police officers ride their mopeds off in defeat. Michael huffed, jabbing Luke in the ribs with his elbow. Luke squawked.

"Michael's just trying to be tough," Ashton said, rolling his eyes. "Our old friend hallucinated us after we died, and we think he might be able to hear us."

" _Another_ lifer who can see you guys?" Otto asked incredulously. 

Michael and Luke frowned in confusion.

"Lifer is ghost-lingo for 'the living.'" Ashton elaborated.

"Oh. Well, he can only hear us. We want him to know he's not crazy," Luke replied. "And we didn't think just hearing us would help very much."

"I said we should just let him forget us, but these two are sentimental," Ashton said, jabbing a thumb at Luke and Michael.

Otto smirked a little. "Oh, and you're _not_ sentimental, Ash?"

Ashton felt himself melt a little at the nickname as Luke and Michael snorted.

"We just need to figure out a way for him to see us," Michael interrupted.

Otto sighed. "Well, I'm not the ghost for that. Appearing to Lifers is way out of my range."

The guys deflated, sighing in defeat. Otto looked at Ashton, who looked defeated. 

"But I know a ghost who can help you," Otto continued, eyes only on Ashton.

Michael brightened. "You can take us to him? Her? Them?"

Otto laughed. "He's kind of a big deal, but he should be able to help."

"Anything," Michael said, a bit desperately. He coughed. "I mean, yeah, sounds cool."

Otto smirked a bit, amused at Michael's insistence on his tough-guy act. "Alright. I have to go talk to some people, but-" He turned back to Ashton. "Meet us where we first met. Eight o'clock?"

Ashton smiled. "Perfect."

Otto grinned. After a moment's pause, they leaned forward and gave Ashton a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"See you then," Otto said, grinning as they skated off.

Ashton raised a hand to his cheek, touching the spot Otto had kissed. 

Michael made a retching sound. "You two are disgusting."

"Mikey!" Luke complained. "I think it's sweet!"

"Yeah, because you and Sierra are just as gross, _Lucas_ ," Michael sneered.

Luke squawked, a blush on his face.

"Alright, enough, you two," Ashton groaned. "Let's get back to the studio."

* * *

Sierra arrived to pumping music and dancing kids. She knew the guys were off having ghostly adventures with Ashton's crush, but Luke promised they would be back in time for their performance.

She was still worriedly pacing backstage, picking at a loose thread in the cute mesh crop top she had found in her mom's old trunk. 

She hadn't gone through it until today, but she thought it would be a perfect good luck charm. 

"You're gonna crush it, Si," Crystal said. They were sitting backstage left in the same gym Sierra had performed 'Long Way Home' with the guys. "Are the guys here? They seemed like good motivators last time."

Sierra shook her head. "They're not. But they promised they'll be back. They know how much this means to me." 

Sierra hoped she wasn't just convincing herself.

* * *

"And here we are," Otto said, leading them into a fancy restaurant-looking room. 

Ashton finally took his eyes off of Otto's outfit- a tailored black coat with long coattails, black skinny jeans, a white button-down shirt, and their classic black chequered vans- to gaze around the room. 

For all intents and purposes, it looked exactly like a fancy restaurant- the type that would serve you a five-course meal and would give you three different forks and spoons.

"So your bangin' ghost dude lives… Here?" Michael asked dubiously.

"Not _here_ , here," Otto said. "But he does run this place."

"We used to walk by this place every day," Luke said. "It just looked like an abandoned building. How come we've never known about this?"

"This area has been sealed off for _decades_ ," Otto replied. "You'd never know, just walking by, especially not as a Lifer. It's _highly_ exclusive- invite-only."

The guys straightened up a bit, feeling emboldened by Otto's implication that they were now _invitees_ to this exclusive ghost-club.

"I gotta go make sure everything's okay," Otto said. "I'll be right back."

Luke looked off to the side as Otto slipped out the way they came. "Apparently, it's called Hollywood Ghost Club."

"We're nowhere near Hollywood," Michael said as the three of them leaned over the railing to look out on the club.

"Well, that big glowing thing says 'This Way to Hollywood,'" Ashton said, pointing to a large structure on the left side of the club. It was a glowing blue mass. The guys watched as two people walked into it and disappeared. A few moments later, five different people walked back through.

"You think it's a portal?" Michael whispered.

"You play way too many video games, Mikey," Ashton said, shaking his head. 

"This place is so spooky," Luke murmured, leaning into Ashton's side.

"Yeah," Ashton replied, wrapping his arm around Luke's shoulders. "So are we, Lukey."


	5. Episode Five - Independence Day / Voodoo Doll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You're telling me the same old story / and that I need to change / if you're not living my life for me / you make it feel that way.” - “Independence Day”  
> “I can feel you watching / even when you’re nowhere to be seen / I can feel you touching / even when you’re far away from me.” - “Voodoo Doll”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Username change, haha! I used to be "logxnsworld," so this is the same author, I swear!
> 
> Please know that my interpretations/characterizations of these irl people are not how I think they actually are!! This is gonna be really important, especially for Harry and a few others.
> 
> possible cw or tw:  
> // references to homophobia (Harry calls Otto "Mr" and mispells their name)  
> // use of derogatory language pertaining to women by a man (michael uses the b-word... yikes)
> 
> I'm going to try to do the above on every chapter! If you notice something i missed/should include/etc please please PLEase let me know. TW and CW should be far more normalized, but I'm not super sensitive to this stuff, so I may be over- or under-doing it.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

"I really don't know about this," Luke murmured as the sound rose in the club. He huddled closer to Ashton.

"I've got you, Lukey," Ashton replied.

"C'mon, we've got this," Michael said cockily. "Grow up, Lukey."

Luke frowned at the ground and didn't move from Ashton's side.

Otto appeared on Ashton's other side. "We're all good!" They grinned.

Ashton grinned a bit dopily at them.

"Oh, by the way," Luke said, peeking out from Ashton's side. "We've gotta get to a gig in like, an hour."

"No problem," Otto said, smiling kindly. "It won't take long." With one last fond look at Ashton, they gestured for the guys to follow them as they made their way down the stairs.

Luke extracted himself from Ashton's side but didn't stray far.

"Jeez," Ashton mumbled, looking at the fancy guests. "I feel underdressed."

Otto nudged him. "No one will judge," They said. "Besides, you always look great."

Ashton felt himself blush. Otto grinned before turning around and sliding down the rail.

"Come on, the show is starting soon!"

Ashton grinned. The guys quickly made their way down the steps- and were immediately passed through by a couple making their way to a table.

"I thought these were all ghosts?" Michael asked.

"All of the patrons are Lifers," Otto explained, leading them to a table. "They've paid good money to get a sneak peek at the afterlife."

"Always knew rich people did weird things," Michael muttered.

The table had a paper fold reading "RESERVED" on it. Underneath was "MR. AUTO- PARTY OF FOUR."

"Is that how your name is spelled?" Ashton asked as he took a seat. 

Otto hummed questioningly before spotting the card. "Oh, no," They plucked the card off the table, stuffing it into a pocket. "The guy you're looking for- he likes to misspell my name in weird ways. Just a fun thing."

Ashton frowned a bit at the obviously rushed excuse but dropped it.

The table was great- it faced an empty stage, with Luke and Otto in the seats closest to the stage and Ashton and Michael at the backside of the table.

"So, where's the guy?" Michael asked, leaning forward. "Is it one of these Lifers?"

"Oh, no Lifer has that kind of power," Otto said, shaking their head. Suddenly, a quiet bass line thrummed through the club. Otto grinned. "Here comes the guy who does, though."

Over the club speakers, an announcement came through: "Ladies and Gentlemen, back from the dead by popular demand, please welcome Harry Styles!"

As if on cue, the rest of the crowd cheered. Otto joined a second later.

With a magical flourish, an elegant, well-dressed man appeared in the air above the stage, a charming smile in place.

"Did you miss me?" He called.

"Oh, yeah!" The crowd and Otto crowed back, sounding very rehearsed.

"Well, I missed you, too!" Harry sounded simultaneously genuine and fake, and it was kind of freaky. "Welcome! To the party of your _dreams_."

The crowd cheered again.

"For millennia, humans of all kinds have been fascinated with the idea of an afterlife. What will happen? Where will we go? I may have some answers for you tonight!"

The bass line grew as Harry began singing. A tambourine kept beat beneath everything. Harry floated forward as an orchestra was introduced.

Ashton noticed that Luke seemed enraptured by Harry's sparkly ensemble, and he smiled.

As the chorus began, dancers appeared, wearing sparkly dancing dresses from several different eras. Next to Harry, his personal dancers wore flapper dresses, embellished with feathers around the neckline, the glitter and sequins in the dresses catching the stage lights as they danced.

Luke was enthralled.

Servers continually swiped food underneath Michael's nose, only to pull the trays back towards them. All in all, the performance was _insane_ , but Ashton only had eyes for how much Luke, Michael, and Otto were enjoying it. The music was fantastic, too, so that was a bonus.

Ashton did note that some of Harry's words seemed to be strangely directed at Ashton and his bandmates, but he supposed he was just paranoid.

The performance ended with Harry's disappearing act, and there was only a small dip in the music before the band continued with instrumentals. They all stood up for applause, Otto whooping the loudest.

"He's the guy that bumped into me when we were exploring last week," Ashton whispered to Michael.

"Weird," Michael murmured back.

Luke was waving to a few patrons, a bashful grin on his face as they seemed to be fawning over his cuteness. Michael pulled him back by the shirt.

"Isn't he that musician that died a horrible death at one of his concerts?" Michael asked as the three of them huddled around Michael's chair.

"Definitely _don't_ bring that up when we meet him," Ashton instructed, sitting back next to Otto. Michael nodded sagely.

"So, Otto, does he do a lot of shows like that?" Michael asked louder.

"Some, yeah. He does movie showings, too," Otto replied excitedly. "For _Titanic,_ he literally floods the place."

"So he can really help us?"

"The guy's got _skills_ ," Otto said. "He'll be able to help."

"So, where'd he go?" Luke asked.

Otto gestured minutely between Ashton and Michael. The three musicians turned, and all collectively jumped.

"Hi!" Ashton yelped.

"Handsome!" Luke squeaked at the same time.

Harry smiled. "Hello, boys!" He spoke with a charming British accent, while his eyes glinted like sharpened sea glass. "Harry Styles, call me Harry. Welcome to the Hollywood Ghost Club. Enjoying the show?"

"Definitely," Ashton replied.

"Can I ask something?" Michael asked.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Why's it called Hollywood if we're in Sydney?"

Harry chuckled before pointing to the glowing blue mass. "That over there is a portal leading to the Hollywood branch, run by my dear friend Caleb Covington. Not much going on there, though, so you're not missing out. We like to call this branch the 'Other Side of Hollywood.'"

The guys hummed and 'oh'ed.

"Caleb and I both love nothing more than sharing this magic with new friends," Harry continued. "Speaking of new! Otto."

"Oh, right!" Otto quickly gestured to each of the guys. "This is Ashton, Michael, and Luke."

"'Sup," Michael said.

Harry chuckled. "Nice to meet you, boys. Please, take a seat."

They all sat down, including Harry, who had a chair appear underneath him.

"Thank you for inviting us, Mr. Styles," Ashton said.

Harry laughed. "Please, Ashton, call me Harry." He clapped his hands. "Anyway, my dear Otto tells me you boys have some magic of your own!"

Ashton blinked a couple of times. "Me and Otto?" He asked confusedly. "But Otto's not-"

"He means the band," Otto interrupted quickly. "With Sierra?"

Ashton's eyes widened. "Oh."

"Well, we can't do nearly as much as you," Luke confessed. "This is so _sparkly_."

Harry smiled. "I've had practice. Our gifts are rare, boys, and they're extraordinary. I haven't come across another ghost with those particular... talents in many years."

"Sir," a well-dressed host appeared at Harry's shoulder.

"Ah, duties call," Harry sighed dramatically. "Be back to chat!"

"He's so cool," Luke sighed.

* * *

"Is everyone ready for Sierra and the Shadows?!" Crystal yelled into her DJ mic.

Her entire school cheered.

Meanwhile, Sierra was still backstage, _alone_ , and beginning to freak out. She pulled at the hem of her mom's old rainbow net crop top that she had found earlier that day.

"We're a bit behind schedule, but keep that fire, Bulldogs!" Crystal said. "Let's keep the party going!"

With a cheer, the next song started, and Crystal quickly scurried back to where Sierra was.

"Sierra and the Shadows?" Sierra asked.

"Had some free time in French," Crystal said with a shrug. "You better like it because it's on all your social media."

"I love it," Sierra replied honestly. Crystal grinned at something over her shoulder before nudging at her.

Lo and behold, Eddie Dawkins strolled through the backstage door.

"Eddie!" She yelped.

"Hey, Sierra."

"You… made it," Sierra half-whispered.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Eddie replied. "I've had your song from the pep assembly stuck in my head for a _week_."

"Oh, wow," Sierra mumbled. Her stomach was in knots. She knew she had some feelings for Luke, but Eddie _still_ made her fumble over her words. Did she like them both? Maybe she still liked Eddie and just really wanted to be Luke's friend? _God, feelings are confusing._

"Oh, hey, I really like your shoes," Eddie said, breaking her panic.

"I doodle on them sometimes," Sierra admitted. "My eternal work-in-progress."

Eddie laughed brightly.

"Wow! I can't tell if the crowd is bored or restless," Joy sneered, faking concern as she strutted to stand next to Eddie. " _Never_ a good sign."

Eddie rolled his eyes at Joy as she pretended to jump. 

"Oh!" She said as if just noticing Sierra. "Hi, Sierra! So excited to see you perform. Is that your bag?"

She gestured at her "projector," which was actually just a large, blocky flashlight.

"This is my projector," Sierra replied. "Thought I should bring my own this time."

"So… _simple_ ," Joy hummed. "I don't know why I was expecting anything more sophisticated."

"At least it's genuine," Sierra shot back. "It's what's on the inside that counts."

"I'm sure you tell yourself that a lot," Joy said condescendingly. She huffed before raising a hand. "C'mon. Let's go, Eddie."

Eddie sighed, wincing at Sierra apologetically before taking Joy's hand and leading her out of the backstage door.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Sierra groaned, checking the time. 9:15 PM. 

_Where are you guys?_

* * *

"That show was _insane,_ " Ashton gushed to Otto, who grinned brightly. "I'm guessing all these Lifers are, like, sworn to secrecy or something?"

"Something like that," Otto repeated awkwardly. "Harry's offered everyone here a membership to experience this for eternity. They've all happily accepted."

"So, these ghosts all just want to party forever?" Ashton asked. "No one wants to cross over?"

"Why would you want to?" Otto asked, tilting their head.

"Peace?" Ashton offered. "Closure, or whatever?"

"No one actually knows if they'll get that," Otto replied. "I, for one, would rather do this forever."

Otto nudged his knee with theirs. Ashton grinned at them, feeling like his brain was mush. Otto glanced around, their eyes widening as they spotted something above Ashton's head.

"There's, um. A lot to like here," Otto was suddenly nervous, their eyes darting around like they were worried about getting caught by someone. "I've got someone I need to talk to. Be right back." They scrambled out of their chair, quickly walking off.

Ashton frowned after them before being punched in the shoulder. He squawked in protest.

"You so like Otto!" Michael crowed obnoxiously. He was crouching on the seat of the chair, and Luke was giggling as he sat (properly) in his own chair.

"Fuck off, Michael!" Ashton yelped.

"Dude, we're happy for you," Michael said, a little softer, and ruffled Ashton's hair. "You scored a bangin' g- person?- whatever. Point is, Otto is hot, and you're happy."

Ashton smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Mikey."

"Don't make it weird, bro," Michael replied, shoving Ashton lightly. 

"So, where did you two wander off to?" Ashton said after a moment.

"We talked to some Lifers," Luke chirped. "We found out they made a ton more Star Wars movies." 

"Eight more!" Michael yelled. "And guess what they did."

"What?"

"They _killed_ Han Solo!" Michael cried, outraged.

"They can't _kill_ Han Solo," Ashton replied.

"Well, they did!"

"And you remember Marky-Mark?" Luke asked.

"The guy from 'Marky-Mark and the Funky Bunch'?"

"He's an actor now!" Michael yelled. "And not some B-List shitty-acting actor, he's like, some big-shot _celebrity_!"

Ashton shook his head, scrunching his nose. "That's just wrong."

"I take it you boys are enjoying yourselves?" An amused voice lilted from in front of their table.

The three of them jumped slightly, looking to where Harry stood.

"Yeah, this place is _awesome_ ," Luke replied.

Harry chuckled. "A little birdie told me there's something I can help you with."

Michael jumped to his feet. "There's a friend of ours. He was our other guitarist, and he thinks he's crazy for hallucinating us."

"He hallucinated you?" Harry asked. He snapped his fingers and sat down on a chair that a host pushed forward. Michael sat down as well.

"We think he might be able to hear us," Ashton explained. "But he can't see us like Sierra can."

Harry hummed. "So, why exactly are you so keen to attach yourselves to these Lifers?"

The three boys blinked at him.

"In my afterlife, it's always easier to rely on ghosts," Harry explained. "We can be anywhere in a second. Lifers come and go, but ghosts are eternal."

"We can't just _abandon_ Sierra," Luke complained. 

"I wasn't saying _that_ ," Harry replied. "I'm simply stating a fact. Your friends will die eventually. Why put your time into something that won't last?"

"What do you suggest we do?" Ashton asked.

Harry grinned wickedly. "I have some spots open in my house band. You boys were meant for greatness- something to last for eternity. You're worth more than a couple of superficial Lifers."

The three boys glanced at each other. 

"Imagine getting to soak in the applause," Harry said. "No more disappearing act, just world-renowned musicians taking their rightful bows."

"World-renowned?" Ashton echoed.

Harry gestured to the portal. "We have branches all across the world," He replied enticingly. "Today, Sydney, tomorrow, the world. The possibilities are endless, boys."

Luke was apprehensive, but Michael was fully-on board.

Ashton wasn't sure _what_ to think.

"That sounds _awesome_ ," Michael said with a grin.

Harry grinned back.

"I'm not sure," Ashton replied. "Could we maybe have some time to think?"

"We need to talk to Sierra," Luke piped up. "She's in our band, too, now."

Something displeased flickered across Harry's face- a split-second departure before returning to his charming smile.

"I'll leave you boys some food for your thoughts," he said before standing and snapping his fingers.

A group of waiters appearing with trays stacked high with food, and they set it down in front of the boys.

"We can eat?" Michael gasped.

"Here, you can," Harry replied. "Enjoy!"

He waltzed off with a grand flourish of his coat. The boys paused for a moment before digging into the trays of food like starving wolves.

* * *

Two hours after Sierra had last checked the time, Crystal quickly leaned behind the curtains towards a pacing Sierra.

"Si, it's eleven o'clock," Crystal hissed. Sierra frowned, not realizing it had been that long.

She pulled out her phone, sure that Crystal was exaggerating and- nope. It was 11:07.

"You should just play by yourself," Crystal continued.

"I can't," Sierra replied, shaking her head rapidly. "I'll choke, you know it."

Crystal cringed sympathetically. "Do you want me to say the performance was canceled?"

Sierra groaned. "I guess, yeah."

Crystal stepped fully backstage to rub at her shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Si."

Sierra nodded glumly. 

Crystal stepped out of the backstage area as Sierra sat down. She hugged her knees to her chest and bowed her head, attempting to drown out the confused murmurings of the school as Crystal announced the cancellation of their performance, citing "technical difficulties."

She heard the clacking of heels before Joy's voice rang out clearly. "Party at my house! Dirty Candy will be there!"

A cheer rose up in the crowd.

Sierra felt hot tears streak down her face.

_I'm so stupid._

* * *

"Michael, don't make out with the pizza!"

"I do what I want, _Dad_!"

Ashton shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as Otto and Luke laughed.

"C'mon, Ash," Otto said, leaning towards him. "Don't blame Michael for being passionate."

"Passionately an _idiot_ ," Ashton grumbled.

"I like a guy with passion," Otto replied.

Ashton stared at Otto, a little moony-eyed. "I like you," He replied quietly, sounding a little dopey as he leaned closer to Otto.

Otto grinned.

Michael, who was finished with his slice of pizza, wolf-whistled. Luke giggled as Ashton spun around, glare watered down by his tomato-red cheeks.

"I take it you're all enjoying the feast!" Harry announced from the stage, interrupting them.

The crowd cheered, and this time, the boys cheered, too.

"Anyone ready for dessert?" Harry asked, sitting on the grand piano.

The crowd cheered again.

"Hit it!" 

The band picked up their earlier intermission music, transitioning into a pseudo-reprise of Harry's earlier song. Dancers flooded the dance floor as the music began. When a large dance break came, Otto jumped up and joined in with a bright grin. Ashton stared in wonder as their hair swung with every movement- bright green and black dancing along with Otto. As the break came to a close, Otto pulled Ashton out of his seat. Luke and Michael jumped up to join him. 

Harry stalked across the dance floor to meet them, his flapper-girls sweeping Michael and Luke away.

Ashton and Otto were dancing awkwardly, more "friends at a school dance" than anything. Otto darted a glance to where Harry still stood and stopped them both.

They looked back to Ashton, nervous. "I've got to go do something, but I'll be back soon, yeah?"

Ashton smiled and nodded. Otto pecked him on the cheek and darted off. Ashton watched him go.

"Oh, come on, mate, you can't be the only one at a party not dancing!" Harry crowed, strutting up to him.

Ashton spun around and smiled apologetically. "I was just gonna wait for Otto."

Harry narrowed his eyes, then snapped his fingers. "Dante! Serena!" A man in a black and white suit appeared, along with a woman in a glittery salmon-colored dress. Harry grinned as Ashton glanced at the dancers in surprise.

"This is Ashton," Harry said. Ashton stared at him, a little confused. "You're welcome."

With that, Dante and Serena managed to do a complicated lift that vaulted Ashton over Harry's head and onto the dance floor. Harry launched back into his song as the various dancers spun the three boys around. 

Throughout the whole time, Ashton was looking around for Otto, but he kept getting pulled into some complicated spin or dip by Dante and Serena that he stopped getting a chance to look at all.

* * *

As Luke danced with one of Harry's dancers, he felt his gaze more drawn to the feathers and sparkles at her collar than her face. 

"My face is up here, sweetheart," The dancer murmured. She tapped his chin, and Luke raised his head with wide eyes. "What's got you so distracted, darlin'?"

She was clearly American, a lazy drawl to her voice that was quite calming.

"I think I was supposed to be somewhere," Luke admitted. "But I can't remember, and your dress is gorgeous."

The dancer giggled. 

"Not that you aren't pretty, of course," Luke scrambled to say. "But-" he blushed. "I just like glitter."

"Would you want one?"

Luke blinked. "A dress?"

She nodded.

"I'm a boy," he replied reflexively.

"Good to know," The dancer replied. "That doesn't change my question, though, honey."

"But-" Luke made a frustrated sound. "Dresses are for girls. I'm not a girl."

"Oh, sweetheart," The dancer said, petting the edges of his hair. "It's just clothes. You can wear whatever you want."

"I can't wear a dress," Luke stressed. "It's not. I'm not-"

"Who told you that?"

Luke dropped his head. "My dad," he admitted. 

The dancer stiffened, pushing him out to arm's length. He thought he'd said the wrong thing, but a box appeared in her hands, and she pressed it into his hands. "You can wear whatever you want," she said firmly. "It doesn't change who you are."

Luke looked up at her, touched, and took the box as tears burned at the corners of his eyes. "Thank you."

She smiled, patted his cheek fondly, and danced off. 

Luke clutched the box to his chest, grinning, and turned around to find Michael. The boy in question was dancing with his dancer's matching twin, and Luke moved forward as his eyes drifted up to the clock.

And his heart dropped out of his chest.

"Michael," He squawked, panicking. "Michael, it's _midnight_!"

"Dude, back off!" Michael growled, swatting Luke's hands away without breaking eye contact with the dancer.

Luke made a distressed sound. "Ashton?! Ashton!"

Ashton pushed his way through to Luke. "Lukey!"

"Ashton, we forgot Sierra," Luke said, feeling on the verge of tears.

Ashton stalked up to Michael, gently pushing Luke out of the way. He wrapped his arms around Michael's waist and forcibly lifted the boy out of the dancer's embrace.

"Dude, what the fuck!" Michael complained.

"Michael, we were supposed to be at Sierra's dance at _nine_ ," Ashton stressed. "We're so late!"

Michael looked at the clock. "Shit. C'mon, we might be able to make it."

The three boys began hustling for the exit.

As they were about to walk up the stairs, Harry appeared.

"Why in such a hurry, boys?" He asked. "The party's just getting started. And you do have an eternity, after all!"

"It was really nice of you, Mr. Styles," Ashton replied, a bit breathless. "But we really have to go."

"We have a gig, and we're so late," Luke said, his eyes a bit shiny.

Harry hummed. He gestured with his hand. "Give me your arm."

"Dude, we gotta go-" Michael began.

"I have a special stamp for guests," Harry replied. "Show any bouncer this stamp, and you can get in any time. I can help you with your friend when you've got more time."

The boys quickly thrust out their forearms; Michael with a desperate eagerness, the other two with a subdued sort of wariness. Harry grasped each in turn, placing a purple stamp that stung a bit.

Ashton frowned at it a bit as it sunk into his skin. 

Michael and Luke immediately took off. Ashton paused for a moment.

"If- uh. If Otto asks about me," Ashton said. Then, he mumbled, "not that they will." He sighed, shaking his head a bit. "Will you just let Otto know that I was looking for them?"

Harry just smiled.

"Um. Thanks? I think…" Ashton then ran off to catch up with the boys.

* * *

"Sierra!" Michael crowed as they jogged into the cafeteria- incredibly empty and half-dark.

"Shit," Ashton hissed under his breath.

Sierra sat underneath an archway made of pink, red, and white balloons, angrily stabbing them with her keys clutched in her hand.

"Sierra?" Luke asked cautiously as they stood in front of the expressionless girl. 

"Where were you."

Michael swallowed before chuckling awkwardly. "What are you, my mum?"

Sierra's head shot up, her eyes blazing. "Where. Were. You."

Michael opened his mouth to answer. Ashton slapped his arm.

"No," Sierra huffed, standing up. "I wanna know what was _so_ important that you needed to make me look like an _idiot_ in front of my entire school!"

"Sierra, it wasn't like that," Ashton pleaded. "We lost track of time, we're sorry-"

"You know what?" Michael growled. "No. It _was_ more important than your stupid dance."

"Michael!" Ashton yelped.

"Of course _you_ think it is," Sierra hissed. "You're just a _fucking_ delinquent."

A look of hurt flashed across Michael's face before being crushed by a snarl. "No, it absolutely _was_ more important," Michael replied cockily, standing tall and lifting his chin defiantly.

"Michael, that's enough," Ashton scolded. "Sierra, we _promise_ that-"

"Oh, you _promise_ , huh?!" Sierra asked incredulously. "I'm starting to think your big brother complex is selective, Ash. You promised last time, and look where that got you."

" _We_ promised nothing," Michael complained. "Luke's the one that you have on a leash just 'cause he thinks you're hot."

Ashton punched Michael's shoulder. "I _said enough,_ Michael."

Michael huffed, but the damage had been done. Sierra rounded on Luke, who was shaking slightly and looking at the ground.

"He's right," Sierra said, dangerously quiet. "You have anything to say for yourself, Luke?"

"I'm sorry," Luke whispered, his voice choked like he was about to start crying. 

Sierra scoffed. "I'm such an idiot."

"Sierra-" Luke began, sounding a bit desperate.

"Here I was, thinking that you actually cared enough to be there for me," She said. "I told you _everything_ I've been through- why it's been so hard for me to play. I thought you- you _got_ me. But then you go and throw it in my face!"

" _Sierra_ ," Luke pleaded, tears gathering in his eyes.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you," She spat at Luke. She then glared at Ashton and Michael. "Any of you."

Without another word, Sierra spun around and stalked out of the gym.

Michael scoffed. "What a _bitch_."

Luke's lip wobbled before he let out a choked sob. He quickly covered his mouth, turning away from the guys.

"Michael," Ashton hissed. 

"What?!" Michael complained. "It _was_ more important."

"No, it wasn't," Ashton replied. "Convincing Calum of his non-existent sanity could have _waited_ , Sierra's dance couldn't."

"He's not crazy," Michael yelled. 

"Is he?" Ashton asked shrilly. "He _hallucinated_ us, Mikey, that's not _sane_."

"What if he was seeing _us_ ? Like, us-us, like _ghosts!_ "

"We would remember it, dumbass!"

"Guys," Luke whimpered.

The other two froze.

"Sorry, Lukey," Michael grumbled.

Luke still faced away from them.

"How about we go home," Ashton supplied. "We can talk it out tomorrow."

A strange, muffled sound came from Luke, and his shoulders started shaking harder. "That's w-w-what Dad u-used to sa-ay," Luke whispered, his uneven breath stuttering his words.

"Luke-"

"I don't wanna be here," Luke interrupted. 

"Luke, wait-"

Before he could disappear, a shock of pain rushed through the three boys. They all cried out in pain, Luke dropping to his knees in surprise.

"Owwww," Luke whined.

Ashton helped Luke up as quickly as he could. Luke stood on wobbly legs with red eyes.

"What the fuck was that," Michael groaned. 

"Felt like dying all over again," Luke whimpered.

Ashton quickly tucked Luke into his side.

"We'll figure this out," Ashton promised. "All of it. Sierra, Calum, these weird jolts, all of it. Okay, you two?"

"Thanks, Dad."


	6. Episode Six - Lost in Reality / Safety Pin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Lost in reality / i can feel you in the dark when I fall asleep / all that's in my head are pictures of memories / words that you said to me.” - “Lost in Reality”  
> “You said you tried it all before / and it only makes it worse / oh, but this time / maybe this time / two wrongs make it right.” - “Safety Pin”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Wednesday, my dudes. A note: I um. Don't have episode seven finished yet. I'm a bit bogged down with school and such, but i should be able to work on it but,,,,
> 
> Let's just say next week's chapter might be a little late. So sorry.
> 
> Anyway, here's episode six! We get to know a bit more about Luke's home life, so Angst Train ahead!
> 
> possible tw or cw:  
> // references to bad parenting/abuse (luke's dad was... not great)  
> // use of derogatory language pertaining to women by a man (michael to sierra, use of the b-word and p-word)
> 
> Also all vietnamese words were translated through google translate, so if you actually speak vietnamese, I am sorry.  
>  _Thim_ : Aunt  
>  _Cháu gái_ : Niece

“I just can’t believe them!” Sierra screeched as she and Crystal walked to Crystal’s. “They miss the dance to convince their friend that he’s not crazy- even though he probably _is_ \- and say ‘whoops, sorry!’”

Crystal huffed. “That’s what we get for trusting boys, huh.”

“I thought they actually wanted me in the band,” Sierra murmured. “Turns out they just want to find a way to get their old guitarist back.”

Crystal squeezed her hand as they finally arrived at Crystal’s apartment, quickly skipping past her already-asleep parents and to her room.

“I feel a little bad, though,” Sierra mumbled as they laid with the lights off. “Luke looked really sad. Like, really sad.”

“Si, anyone’s gonna be sad when they betray someone as awesome as you,” Crystal grumbled. “Luke ain’t special.”

“He was crying,” Sierra replied. “I told him that he betrayed me, and he looked like someone had just stomped on his heart.”

“Hmm, poetic,” Crystal hummed. “But still. They betrayed you first. Yeah, maybe you didn’t say nice things, but they did exactly what they said they _wouldn’t_. You both need to apologize, but they do more than you.”

Sierra sighed. “So do I just wait?”

“Let them realize how much they fucked up and how they can’t survive without your gorgeous voice and talent,” Crystal said, waving her arms. “But first, sleep!”

Sierra giggled, but she barely slept, too caught up in thinking about how heartbreaking Luke’s eyes are when they’re filled with tears.

* * *

Crystal frowned slightly at her as Sierra hurried into the gym the next day and quietly conversed with the P.E. teacher. 

“Sorry I’m late,” Sierra rushed out. “I, uh. Overslept.”

Mrs. Damon nodded, then gestured for her to take her place in the line of people, stretching in preparation for Mrs. Damon’s dance unit.

Crystal poked her. “How were you late for fourth hour?” 

Sierra cringed. “I may have gone off-campus to go eat breakfast?”

Crystal gaped at her. “Sierra Deaton, _ditching_ class? Have I entered an alternate dimension?”

Sierra huffed. “I was really stressed last night, so I completely forgot to study for my algebra test today. I’ll just take it after school this week.”

Crystal cringed in sympathy. “I’m really sorry, Sierra. I can’t believe them.”

Sierra dropped into the half-splits, shaking her head. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay? Just. Dance time, no boy-talk.”

Crystal looked at something above her head. “Well…”

“Coach Vogel,” Mrs. Damon said, clapping her hands. “Glad you could join us.”

Sierra paled. Coach Vogel was the football coach- notoriously hard on his players, so much he created a P.E. class for them.

Which happened to be this period. Which meant- she turned around. 

In his beautiful, hazel-eyed glory, Eddie Dawkins stood in the midst of the entire football teams. She cursed inwardly.

“Class,” Mrs. Damon said. “Our football team will be joining us for our dance unit,” She turns to the football players, both the girls’ and boys’ team. “Many athletes have used dance as a way to improve balance, technique, and flexibility. Dance is not a ‘girl’s’ sport, boys.”

Coach Vogel nodded. “Mrs. Damon is me for the next week or two. Pay attention, alright?”

“Yes, coach!” The footy players shouted. 

Coach Vogel nodded and stiffly turned on his heel.

“Alright everyone, pair up!”

A cute girl from the girls’ team nearly immediately swept up Crystal, who grinned apologetically. “Sorry!” She said, not looking very sorry.

Sierra sighed. 

“Hey, Sierra,” Eddie said. 

She jumped a bit. “Hi, Eddie.”

“Do, um,” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Do you have a partner yet?”

Sierra shook her head. “Nope. Just me.”

Eddie grinned. “May I?” He asked, sticking out a hand.

“Of course, dear gentleman,” Sierra replied, awkwardly cheeky.

Eddie grinned as she took his hand and led him to a clear spot in the gym- not too close to Mrs. Damon, but not so far that they wouldn’t be able to see.

Mrs. Damon went through the combo they had been learning last week (mostly for the benefit of the footy players), and Sierra was pleasantly surprised at how quickly Eddie picked up choreography. He wasn’t the best, a bit awkward when it came to fluidity, but he wasn’t absolutely god-awful, like a lot of the other male footy players.

“Ugh, dancing is harder than I thought,” Eddie huffed as he tripped a bit.

“You and Joy never danced together?” Sierra blurted out, cringing a bit as soon as the words left her mouth.

“Nope, and we probably never will,” Eddie replied, a tad bitter. “We broke up.”

“Why?” Sierra asked, genuinely curious. Eddie seemed so infatuated with her.

“I’m… done with her drama,” Eddie sighed. “I dunno if you noticed, but she’s kind of a bitch.”

“I definitely noticed,” Sierra mumbled.

“Yeah, kinda hard not to.”

“You’re pretty good,” Sierra murmured as they went through the whole choreography one last time.

“I’m not, but thanks,” Eddie mumbled back.

“Better than a lot of the other footy players.”

“Is that really that hard?” Eddie asked, jerking his head to the pair next to them- a gangly footy player who kept stepping on some poor girl’s toes.

Sierra giggled. “I suppose not.”

They grinned at each other, a beat of eye contact that made Sierra feel strange. She was a bit confused- they didn’t feel like butterflies anymore, rather like slightly guilty nausea. Was she _still_ thinking about Luke?

“Alright, class!” Mrs. Damon announced from the front. “We’ll be presenting next Wednesday. Practice on your own time, please! Class dismissed.”

The bell rang.

* * *

Ashton sighed as Michael stuck out his tongue at a lady he had scared into moving tables. 

“Is this all we’re here to do?” Ashton grumbled. “Just scare people with ghost-powers and wish we could eat?”

Michael shrugged. “Luke said this place is a hotspot for music-industry-type people. Speaking of!”

Michael hopped up to a clipboard at the coffee counter, quickly scribbling out something. “They hold open-mics a ton,” He explained, sitting back down. “And I just got ‘Sierra and the Boys’ on the list.”

“Booking gigs as if Sierra’s ever going to forgive our sorry asses?” Ashton scoffed. “This is just a whole new level of stupid for you.”

“She’ll come back once she knows we have a killer gig,” Michael replied. “And Lukey batting his baby blues won’t hurt.”

Ashton shook his head, sighing. “Where is Luke, anyway?”

As if on cue, Luke poofed into the extra chair at the table.

“There you are!” Michael groaned.

Luke shrugged. “Sorry, I was. Doing stuff.”

Ashton and Michael shared a knowing look.

“You didn’t miss much,” Ashton huffed. “Michael booked us a gig.”

“But, Sierra-”

“Will agree,” Michael interrupted. “She needs this just as much as we do.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Luke huffed. “We need her _way_ more than she needs us, and we _royally_ fucked that up.”

Michael scoffed. 

“He’s right, Mikey,” Ashton replied. “Sierra could make it on her own. We can’t.”

Michael glared. Ashton glared back. Michael groaned.

“Fine,” He groused. “The gig’s next Monday, so we’ve got today and four more days.”

“Which means four days to make it up to Sierra,” Luke murmured.

“And if it doesn’t work out, we always have-”

Michael was cut off by another of the jolts. Purple light flashed from their wrists as the boys trembled in pain. Luke dropped his head to the table as Ashton and Michael leaned back in their chairs.

“ _Fuck,_ ” Michael spat.

“We need to figure out what that is,” Ashton groaned, rubbing his side. “You alright, Lukey?”

“Yeah,” He mumbled, his head still pressed onto the table.

“Felt like that time I fixed my amp in the rain,” Michael grumbled.

“When did you do that?” Ashton asked.

“I was like, 13,” Michael replied.

“Jesus, how did you three not _die_ before we met?”

“I think the universe just took pity on how stupid we were,” Luke hummed, propping his head on his elbows. “Just said, ‘you three are absolute buffoons. Here, have an Ashton to help.’”

“Yeah, well, look where that got us,” Ashton grumbled. “Dead, and stuck with more problems than dead dudes should have.”

“As I was saying,” Michael interrupted pointedly. “We always have Harry’s offer.”

Luke shook his head vehemently, bolting upright. “No. Absolutely not. He was creepy. I’d rather have Sierra _hate_ me forever than go back there.”

The other two were silent.

“Besides,” Luke huffed. “We shouldn’t give up on Sierra. She’s lost a lot; she doesn’t need to lose anything more.”

Michael scrunched his shoulders. “Lukey, I…”

“What?”

Michael sighed, looking down at his lap. “I’m sorry. For fucking it up with Sierra.”

Luke and Ashton blinked at Michael, then at each other. Michael… was apologizing? 

Luke, surprised at this out-of-character action, replied hesitantly. “It’s okay, Mikey.”

“It’s not, but thanks,” Michael replied, smirking dismissively. He turned to look out the window, then frowned. “Hey, is that Otto?”

Ashton’s head shot up in interest, quickly scanning to windows to see- yeah. That was Otto.

Their eyes widened as they realized they had been caught, and they began skating away. 

Ashton jumped from his seat to attempt to pursue them, but they were gone as soon as he got outside. With a sigh, he poofed back into his seat in the cafe.

Luke and Michael cringed in sympathy.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ashton sighed. “Let’s just focus on how we make it up to Sierra.”

* * *

Their grand “plan” had been showing up at the studio and singing “we’re sorry” at her.

It was definitely not Michael’s best plan, but it was really all they had.

And it all went down the drain.

“So, will you be in the band again?” Michael asked. 

Sierra raised an eyebrow.

“We apologized, so…” Michael continued. “The issue is…?”

Sierra glared. “The ‘issue’ is that you guys broke your promise. You said you’d be there, for _me_ , for _our_ band, but instead, you were trying to get your old one back.”

“It wasn’t like that at all,” Luke said, rushed. “We didn’t mean to, Sierra, we really didn’t.”

Sierra shook her head. “I can’t do this right now.”

“Wait!” Michael said. “ _Before_ you make a decision. Here-” he handed her the flyer for the open mic at the coffee shop. “We booked a gig.”

“You’re really confident in my willingness to forgive,” Sierra huffed. “You flaked on a _school_ dance; why would you show up to this?”

“We know we messed up, okay,” Ashton replied. “We all said some shitty stuff that we didn’t mean-”

Sierra crushed the paper in her hands. “No. I meant every word.”

“Sierra-” Luke began.

“Absolutely not. I stand by what I said last night. You’re just three stupid, selfish, irresponsible teenage boys that I _never_ should have trusted.”

Luke’s eyes were shining again. Sierra was pointedly looking at only Michael and Ashton. Michael bristled. _She_ knows _what she’s doing to Luke, and she still just_ fucking _does it?_

“Sierra, I know you’re mad,” Ashton said placatingly. “But we really do want to make it up to you, I swear.”

“Good for you,” Sierra snarked back.

“Look, girlie,” Michael sneered, having enough. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you know exactly what you’re _fucking_ doing. Y’know what, I stand by what I said, too. You’re a _bitch_ ,” Michael spat.

“I’m just telling you the truth,” Sierra snarled.

“What you’re _doing_ is making Luke feel like shit and then not taking responsibility for it,” Michael shouted. “You saw how he cried, and you like him too much to look him in the eye when you tell us we’re selfish!”

Luke was shaking now, tears gathering in his eyes.

“He’s the one that broke my trust; he deserves it!”

“If you think he deserves to _cry_ so much, why don’t you stop being a _pussy_ and look him in the eyes while you insult him!”

“Oh, because you’re so ‘in-tune’ with Luke’s feelings? Newsflash, you insult him all the damn time; how am I different?”

“I swear to God, bitch-”

“STOP IT!” 

Sierra and Michael’s arguing was cut off by a shrill scream.

“Stop it, stop, it, please just stop it!” Luke sobbed, tears streaming down his face. His cheeks were ruddy, his eyes puffy. “You sound like my _parents_ ,” He stuttered out, his uneven breath-catching his words. 

“Lu,” Sierra whispered, her eyes teary.

“No, just- shut up!” Luke begged, placing his hands over his ears. 

“Luke,” Ashton whispered, stepping forward. “It’s okay.”

Luke stumbled back. “No, it’s- fucking- NOT!” 

With that, the crying boy disappeared, leaving the rest of the studio deathly quiet. Sierra quickly spun around with a sniffle, darting back up to her house.

Michael quietly seethed. “She _knew_.”

“Knew what?”

“That she was making Luke feel bad,” Michael grumbled. “And she had the fucking _nerve_ to not look at him while she did it.”

“I want to protect Luke just as much as you do,” Ashton murmured. “But you shouldn’t have done that, Mikes.”

They stared at the spot Luke had been.

Michael’s shoulders slumped. “Guess I really am the asshole this time, huh.”

“You always are.”

“Where d’you think he went?” Michael asked.

“Where he always goes,” Ashton replied.

Luke was charmingly predictable. And-

“I think we might have another apology to plan,” Ashton said. “And I think it’ll work.”

* * *

The next day, with their plan in place, Ashton tapped softly on Sierra’s door. The door swung open. Sierra raised an eyebrow at him.

“I just wanted to talk,” Ashton admitted. “Go for a walk with me?”

Sierra sighed but nodded.

Moments later, Ashton was walking the path he knew like the back of his hand, with Sierra next to him.

“Can I tell you stories of when we were alive?” Ashton asked.

Sierra, still obviously a little on-edge, nodded.

“I met Luke, Cal, and Mikey when they were in year nine,” He explained. “I was in year eleven. They had started a little band, and they needed a drummer. I knew one of Luke’s older brothers- he was a grade above me. They asked me to be in their band, and I agreed.” Ashton smiled fondly at the memory. “I became their unofficial chauffeur for the next two years.”

Sierra smiled a little, despite herself.

“There was this order that I dropped them off in- Luke first, then Cal, then Mikey, and then I’d go home. I was always picking Luke up from Mikey or Cal’s house, though. Never from his. It only happened a few times, but Mikey explained how to know if I could drop Luke off at home or not.” Ashton took a deep breath. “Luke didn’t have a garage, just a two-car driveway. If there was a blue car or no car, he’d be fine, but if the black car was there, he was going to Mikey or Cal’s for the day.”

Sierra looked to the side, almost as if she wanted to ask but was too afraid.

“Calum had the best home life,” Ashton admitted. “Not fantastic by any means, but better than the rest of us.”

Sierra inhaled shakily. “I’m sorry.”

“I guess it’s all in the past, now.”

Sierra looked around. “I’ve never been in this neighborhood. Where are we going?”

“It’s right… here.”

They stopped in front of a quaint one-story, a blue car in the driveway. The lack of a black car still made Ashton’s lungs decompress, a weight taken off his shoulders. The house looked nicer than he had ever seen it, a pretty modern touch that definitely wouldn’t have passed Andrew Hemmings’ ridiculous standards.

Sierra frowned as she saw Michael hiding behind bushes in the front yard.

“What-?”

“This was Luke’s house,” Ashton explained. He gestured to the car. “That’s his mom’s car. The black one was his dad’s.”

Sierra gasped. “His dad was-”

“A piece of shit!” Michael offered from the bushes. “An absolute fuckwad of a human being! Shall I go on?!”

Sierra giggled, but it was a bit strained.

Ashton led her to the bushes, crouching down next to Michael.

Inside the house, a blonde woman and two tall blonde men sat around a table. Luke was curled up on the kitchen counter, tear tracks on his cheeks, and puffy red eyes. 

Next to him was a vase with a bouquet of pink dahlias. Sierra seemed particularly fixated on them, for reasons Ashton couldn’t discern from her face.

On the kitchen table sat a single cake, and Ashton could still remember the taste of it- plain vanilla cake, smothered in chocolate frosting. Luke had it every year. Two number candles- four and one- sat on the top of the cake. The woman- Liz looked so old and weary- lit the candles quickly, her hands shaking.

Luke shook with her.

Sierra gasped, her eyes shining with tears. “It’s his _birthday_ ,” She whispered.

“He comes here a lot,” Michael murmured solemnly. “He thinks we don’t know, but we do.”

“I see Liz finally ditched her trash-bag of a husband,” Ashton muttered. 

Michael snorted. “Thank god for divorce.”

When Liz, Jack, and Ben moved to blow out the candles, Luke quickly darted forward to blow them out- one at a time, like he always did.

Liz’s mouth opened in a gasp. She slammed a hand over her mouth as her shoulders shook harder. Jack and Ben quickly embraced their mother in a hug.

Luke stood across from his mother and his brothers for a beat. Then, he started screaming, thrashing in anger, and flailing his arms. He only did this for a few moments, slowly collapsing into the wall and sliding down onto the floor, sobbing with his arms wrapped around himself.

Sierra was fully crying when Ashton looked away. Michael’s eyes were misty, too, and Ashton knew his eyes were shining as well.

“I- _fuck._ I didn’t know,” Sierra whispered. “When we wrote, it felt like- like he was coming from a similar place of hurt, but I- I never thought it was like _this_.”

“Luke’s like my little brother,” Michael explained, shaking his head. “And I shouldn’t have been such an asshole, but I’ve always had to be that protective of him. I’ve known him since year seven, and he’s always been this… little kid, in my head. That’s a bit on me, I guess.”

Sierra shook her head. “I said some awful stuff, too, Mikey.”

“We weren’t trying to guilt-trip you,” Ashton said, genuinely. “But the past is all we have. We weren’t trying to abandon you for it.”

“We’ve got music now, though,” Michael replied. “And Lukey, he… He really does like you, Sierra. He was devastated when we realized that we were late.”

Sierra sighed. “Thank you, guys. I’m sorry I was so rude when you tried to apologize.”

“Well, we got to show you this,” Ashton said with a shrug. “So it wasn’t _all_ bad.”

Sierra laughed wetly, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. She quickly wiped away the few that had emerged and sniffed.

“Well,” Sierra said. “We got a gig to rehearse for, don’t we?”

* * *

A few hours later, Michael, Sierra, and Ashton were practicing in the studio.

Luke poofed in, immediately jumping up in surprise.

His eyes were still a bit red, but his cheeks were clear of tear tracks, and Sierra wouldn’t have known he had cried if she hadn’t seen him scream in his house.

“Hey, Lu,” Sierra said, cursing herself for how soft and fond she sounded.

“Sierra?” Luke asked. “What- huh?”

“We’ve got a gig, don’t we?” She said with a grin.

Luke blinked. “Wait, seriously?”

Sierra nodded. “Just ’cause it’s your birthday doesn’t mean you get a free pass from rehearsal.”

Luke blushed, looking at the guys. “You _told_ her?”

Ashton shrugged with a grin, feigning innocence.

Michael smirked. “You heard what she said, _loverboy_ , time for rehearsal.”

“You’re sure, Sierra?” Luke asked. He looked worried as if Michael and Ashton had forced her to forgive them.

“We talked it out,” Sierra replied. “Michael actually apologized, and I did, too.”

Luke blinked. “Why would you apologize?”

“I said some things that weren’t okay,” Sierra replied. “Especially to you. I’m really sorry, Lu.”

Luke blinked again, as if he had never been apologized to. “Um. Thank you?”

_Maybe he hadn’t ever been apologized to._

“Alright,” Ashton said, clicking his drumsticks together. “Rehearsal time, so flirt later, lovebirds.”

Luke quickly grabbed his bass with a fierce blush and sat down in his usual spot on the couch.

Everything was back to normal.

* * *

When Sierra came back inside from rehearsing with the guys, Lauren was rapidly taking pictures in the kitchen.

“Laur?” Sierra asked cautiously. “What… are you doing?”

“Trying to find the ghosts- the orbs,” Lauren explained. “Whenever I open my tablet, chrome always has this rock music site open,” She frowned. “Totally not my style, y’know?”

Sierra laughed softly. “Michael,” She muttered.

“Our house is _definitely_ haunted, Si,” Lauren continued. “I’m just fulfilling my duties as Supernatural Expert of the Deaton House.”

Sierra giggled. “Uh-huh, good luck.”

She moved to go into the living room, but Lauren stopped her.

“I wouldn’t go in there,” She explained. “Dad’s got that look on his face like Google Maps told him to turn on the wrong street.”

Sierra rolled her eyes. Her sister was _so_ weird.

Lo and behold, she was intercepted by her father as she entered the living room. 

“Why did you miss class yesterday?” He demanded. 

Sierra cringed. “I overslept when I spent the night at Crystal’s after the dance. I checked with my teachers, nothing important happened.”

Her dad visibly relaxed. “Good.”

They sat down in the living room, and her dad winced. “But, you know that if I know, it’s only a matter of time before-”

“I came as soon as I heard!” Her aunt cried, coming through the door. “Sierra, you _missed_ class!”

“ _Thím_ , I’m fine,” Sierra replied. “Dad and I talked about it already.”

Her aunt huffed. “You are not fine, _cháu gái_!” She exclaimed. “I called your algebra teacher- he said you missed a _test_!”

“Oh, nothing important, huh?”

Sierra sunk into the couch. “I’m sorry, Dad. I’m gonna take it after school tomorrow; Mr. Feldmann said I could!”

“Why did you lie, then?” Her Dad sighed.

“Because I dealt with it,” Sierra groaned. “I’m not gonna fail because I missed one test, _thim_!”

Her aunt scoffed, then looked to her Dad. “This is where you punish her, John.”

Her Dad straightened in his seat. “Alright. No more going out on school nights.” 

“But-”

Her aunt cleared her throat, pointedly.

“And, you need to go to your room. And study,” Her Dad finished, relaxing again.

Her aunt coughed again.

“There’s more?” Her Dad asked.

Her aunt sighed. “On behalf of your father, you are grounded for one week!”

“A week?! _Thim,_ that’s not fair!”

“To your room, _cháu gái_!”

Sierra groaned but stormed up the stairs to her room.

“John, seriously, you need to be a more stern parent!” She heard as she walked up the stairs.

She shook her head at her aunt. 

_How the fuck am I gonna make the gig?_

* * *

Over the three days between the night she was grounded and the gig, she and the guys devised a plan to sneak her out that Monday.

It wasn’t very elaborate, but Michael wasn’t a very intricate planner.

She looked over her outfit in the mirror one last time. She had finally gone through her mom’s old trunk of clothes and had picked out a few favorites. 

They were performing “Catch Fire,” so she went with a beautiful yellow dress that hugged her legs, with a black vest that laced up on the sides. A single dahlia pin rested on the lapel.

“You ready?” 

Luke has stuck his head through the door. She squawked.

“Dude, knock?” She hissed. “What if I’d been changing?”

Luke blushed fiercely and started stuttering.

“Nevermind,” Sierra sighed, waving a hand. “I’m ready.”

Luke grinned. He stepped fully into the room, and her heart stuttered in her chest. 

He was wearing a plain, flowy black _dress_ with ratty converse and a baggy, ripped-up jean jacket that looked like it belonged to Michael. 

He looked vibrant. A confidence exuded from him that made him look… _golden._

“Do you want me to do your makeup?” She blurted out before her brain could catch up. She winced a bit at Luke’s taken-aback expression. “I mean, if you want.”

“I…” Luke wrung his hands in front of him. “Sure.”

Sierra gasped, grinning. She quickly grabbed the small bag of makeup she had taken into her room and gestured for Luke to sit down. “Hopefully this will work,” she muttered, coating a fluffy brush in golden eyeshadow.

With bated breath, Sierra carefully brushed across Luke’s eyelid.

It stayed.

Grinning, Sierra dusted golden shadow across Luke’s eyelids, brushing a bit on his cheeks and the tip of his nose (which made him giggle). She used the handle of the brush to tilt Luke’s head to apply a light coat of eyeliner and a coat of pink lip crayon on his lips. 

He smacked his lips. “I used to watch my mom put on makeup when I was little,” He explained. “She always did that.”

Sierra smiled, knowing she looked horridly fond. “Take a look.”

Luke gasped at his own reflection. Tears welled in his eyes, but he blinked them away. “I wish I could hug you right now.”

“You like it?”

“I love it.”

* * *

Michael’s “plan” included sneaking out her window and taking the bus. She had to endure said boy ranting about how having a card for bus travel was “entirely ridiculous,” “complete rubbish,” and “fucking robbery” for the entire trip there.

She quickly scurried in, the boys following after her.

“Am I late?” She asked a waiting Crystal.

“Too early, honestly,” Crystal sighed, pointing to the stage where Dirty Candy was just beginning their performance.

Sierra sighed. “Again?” She muttered.

She zoned out for most of the song, until Luke appeared on stage.

He blinked for a second before mocking Joy’s choreography. He slowly became more confident, flipping around Joy’s bubblegum-pink wig with a smirk, swaying his hips and swinging his arms.

As the song ended, Luke posed dramatically, his hip stuck out to one side and his arms fully raised.

Michael and Ashton started clapping, the red-headed boy wolf-whistling obnoxiously.

Sierra giggled. Crystal frowned at her.

“It’s the guys,” Sierra replied, giggling too hard to elaborate. “I’ll tell you later.” 

Crystal rolled her eyes.

Luke poofed back to his spot with them, breathing a bit heavy but grinning.

“Did you have fun?” Ashton asked teasingly.

“That was-” Luke cleared his throat. “Just for you guys. Totally.”

Michael scoffed, pulling Luke into a headlock and ruffling his hair. Luke squawked. “Mikey, stop, you’re gonna mess up my makeup!”

“Y’know, that actually wasn’t half-bad,” Crystal admitted. “Slowly forgetting why I hate her.”

“Oh, isn’t it past your bedtime?” 

“Immediate remembrance.”

Joy stalked up with her monochrome posse, smirking. “Wow, surprised you’re here, Sierra. Eddie didn’t come, if you’re wondering,” She spat.

“Not why I’m here, Joy,” Sierra replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Next up,” An announcer said from the stage. “Sierra and the Boys!”

Sierra blinked, then turned to Michael. He raised his arms in defense. “I didn’t know about the name, I swear!”

Joy scoffed. “‘Sierra and the Boys.’ How… _Quaint._ ”

Sierra huffed, pushing past Joy and the rest of Dirty Candy to get to the stage. Once she arrived, she took the mic. “It’s actually _Sierra and the Shadows._ ”

No one was listening.

“Uh. Hope you enjoy.” She took her place at the piano for the intro.

They hadn’t written many upbeat songs, but Catch Fire was the closest they got, so it would have to work. She had the whole verse for herself, so she kept her eyes down, trained on the piano keys as she willed herself to pound out the chords that were much more suited for a guitar.

As the chorus roared to life, the boys appeared, to the delight of the audience. She picked her head up then, grinning at a glowing Luke. 

Once Michael picked up his verse, she stood at a standing mic, and he took over the chords. 

She nearly missed her entrance for the chorus- she was so enthralled by Luke. He looked vibrant, ecstatic, and was grinning so wide she thought it had to hurt. He shone brighter than his golden eyeshadow, and Sierra was in awe. He was the sun, and she was a mere-

_Jesus, stop with the waxing poetic and SING!_

She made it through the entire song with minimal distractions, and was met with cheers from the crowd.

As they bowed, the crowd gasped. _So the boys have disappeared._

She smiled.

As the four of them left the stage, she spotted Joy looking like she had swallowed a lemon. She giggled a bit as she met Crystal, hanging back near the coffee bar.

Crystal squealed. “That was awesome!”

“Fuck yeah, it was!” Michael shouted from where he and Luke had poofed onto the counter. Ashton stood on behind Sierra, leaning against the counter.

“Oh, hey, I didn’t notice this pin!” Crystal exclaimed, pointing at the dahlia. “It’s cute.”

“It’s a dahlia,” Sierra replied. “It was my mom’s favorite. This whole outfit is my mom’s, actually.”

Crystal grinned. “That’s awesome, Sierra.”

Sierra smiled, feeling proud of herself. She hadn’t touched that chest in _years_ , and it had been sitting in her room since her mom had gone to the hospital that first time.

“Speaking of outfits,” Crystal said, looking mischievous. “Luke looked all dolled up.”

Sierra blushed, and Luke cringed in embarrassment behind her.

“I just did his makeup,” Sierra replied. “I think the jacket is Mikey’s.”

“It’s a good look on him,” Crystal replied. “I liked the crop top more.”

Luke squeaked. “Thanks!”

Michael snorted, putting Luke in a headlock and ruffling his hair.

“Mikey!”

With a smile, Sierra looks back to Crystal. “Luke said thanks.”

Crystal grinned.

“Guys, that lady that Joy was trying to impress is coming over,” Ashton announced.

And, sure enough, a woman in a pantsuit and turtleneck was pushing past Joy and Dirty Candy, headed right for Sierra, Crystal, and the guys.

“Who should talk?” Luke yelped. He then smacked his forehead. “Oh, Sierra, duh.”

“Hello, ladies,” the woman said. “I’m Andy Carpenter, I’m with Capitol Records.”

She stuck her hand out for a handshake. Sierra shakily accepted it.

“Oh, I’m-”

“Sierra.”

A stern voice echoed from behind Andy. Andy frowned, turning her body to reveal-

“Dad,” Sierra said, cringing and quickly dropping Andy’s hand.

“Time to go.”

Sierra swallowed. “Sorry, Mrs. Carpenter.”

She quickly walked after her dad after making sure Crystal could get home.

_I’m in so much trouble._

**Author's Note:**

> comments give me life! hope you enjoyed :)


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